Home Is Where My Grave Is
by zammielicious98
Summary: Max left the place she grew up in. Home. All thanks to her dad. Now, three years later, she's back. But her old friends since childhood don't seem so happy to see her. Then, of course, there's the new guy. The one that moved into her old house. Great. Based on the book 'She's So Dead To Us' by Kieran Scott. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**_hola!_ _bonjour! aloha! ciao! ni hao! heyhihello! _**

**_(did you know that_ heyhihello _is the name of a band?)_**

**_kay. so. this is my story. that is half created. i say half becuz its very based on a book called _She's So Dead To Us _by _Kieran Scott. _i__t's a good book, if you haven't read (or even heard of) it before. _**

**_sjkgbskgb, here's the story._**

**_enjoyy!_**

**disclaimer: James Patterson. Kieran Scott. nuff said.**

* * *

**Max**

"Sweetie, what do you think?"

What do I think? Honestly, it's crap. Shit, poo, dung, and whatever other synonym you can think of. Plus, my darling little butt is screaming at me for sitting in a car for hours. Not that that was my fault. Why would I want to be stuck in a car for what felt like an eternity, just to end up in my old neighbourhood, in which I moved away from about three years ago to get away, and get stuck with having to think of an opinion for this grey dump of a building that I will now be calling 'home' for I-don't-know-how-long.

But if I'm smart, then I won't voice my lovely honest opinion. Because, well, I don't think my mom will want to hear my honest opinion. It'll probably either get her pissed, or just depressed. And she's already tired out of her mind. I happen to have a heart, so I ended up saying something she'd love to hear.

I smiled and said, "I love it."

Mom grinned at me, lighting up her tired, baggy eyes.

"It's great, I know. But sweetie, don't worry, it's not permanent." She turned around to yell at some mover guys, before facing me again. "I'm saving up to get a cute little house in the neighbourhood. Jenny said that we should be able to move out of here soon enough."

Jenny Martinez-my old friend Ella's mom. I guess you could say that Jenny's the only real friend my mom has left from this neighbourhood. Jenny understands what happened, and doesn't blame us for it, knowing that it's my dad's fault, and not ours.

I realized my mom was still talking, but I haven't heard a single thing she said. I told her that I was going to go for a run. I ran off before she could stop me.

Where was I running to? I actually have no idea.

This place, lovely old Ash Creek, is both so familiar and so different. All my old favourite places I used to hang out in, the endless about of stores that sold pretty much everything, the park I loved running around in, and so on. It's crazy how many memories a place could have. Then again, I was raised here since I could walk. Now here I am again. And I'm going to have to face some people that I hoped I wouldn't have to ever face again.

Oh crap.

What will they do when they see me? Will they welcome me as one of them again? Or are they mad? Hell, of course they're mad. They should be. I just hope they're not mad at me. But I doubt that.

Damn you, dad. You did this to me. You did this to mom. How could you ever think that running away will ever solve anything? How could you lose our money? Not just ours, but all my friends' family's money? I bet they all hate me because of you. They probably won't ever speak to me again. They'll probably just-

And there goes my attempt at optimism. Well, I didn't really try to begin with, so, whatever.

Dropping any thoughts of my dad, I realized where I was standing.

I looked up at the gated entrance to the Light Circle-the exclusive street for the rich. A street full of big mansions, fancy cars, and people with big jobs and big amounts of money. Also known as my old street, and the street where my old friends still live in.

Without a thought, I started to run again, past all the houses. I looked to my right and saw Ella's place, and across the street is Nudge's mansion, which stood beside Angel's place. In front of her is where Dylan lives, and beside him, the Griffiths Twins-Iggy and Gazzy. Lastly, across from the twins' mansion, stood my very old home, looking the same as I could ever imagine. I ran right up the driveway and around the front yard and halted at a tree. _My _old special Ride tree; planted when I was only three. I couldn't resist-I hugged it. Yes, I, Max Ride, just hugged a tree. I am the official new tree hugger of the century.

"Why are you hugging a tree?"

Startled out of my pants (if only), I jumped back from the tree and looked up. A guy that looked my age, with shaggy black hair and just as dark eyes, was leaning out the window of my old bedroom.

"That's my room."

The guy raised his brow. "You sure 'bout that?"

"Eh, pretty much."

"Prove it."

The corner of my lips twitched. "Go the closet. Look in the back right corner. It should have 9.03 on the wall."

He just stared at me with a blank expression, the most blank-est expression I've ever seen. Then he turned around and walked away from the window.

After a moment, he came back and said, "You're right. Care to elaborate?"

I smirked. "That's my 100m dash record."

"Liar."

"Hey!"

"Then prove this." He said with a smirk of his own. A very, _very_ attractive smirk.

I mock shook my head. "What is with boys and trust? Can't a girl get anyone to believe her these days?"

He chuckled. "One sec." And he turned around and went off again.

And before I could decide whether or not to leave or just stand here awkwardly, the guy was running out the door toward me.

Oh jeez. Up close, he's tall; taller than me, with broad and fairly muscular shoulders. He's wearing all black for some reason; black shirt, dark denim jeans, black shoes, and the like. As much as I hate admitting anything that has to do with something a typical girl would squeal over, this guy looks good. _Real_ good. Like so good that-

"So?"

I blinked. "Wha-?"

He smirked. "I don't believe you. So race me."

I grinned a wicked grin. "You're on. But just to help ease your ego, there's no way in hell that you'll win. Got that?"

His eyes sparkled. "We'll see." He bent down to tighten his laces.

And my phone rang.

"Ya?" My politeness just doesn't get better than that. Literally.

"Max? Where are you? The movers need you to know where to put your stuff."

I glance down at the guy. Damn…

"Be there in five." The guy looked up at me, and I swear, in the few minutes in which I have met him, I can tell that he wasn't an emotional puss, but his expression right now..

"I have to go."

"Wait. You lived here. So you know the flock. Right? Angel, Nudge, Ella, Dylan, and the Incredible Idiots."

Ah. The flock. Oh how much I missed them.

Then I started laughing when I realized what he called the Griffiths Twins.

He smirked. "Suits them well, don't you think?"

I nodded, smiling. "Definately. Then again, of course, I'm the one who came up with that name. Along with the Pyro Twins, and the Dynamic Duo. But that last one is a little to 'dynamic' for them."

"You came up with them? Genius."

"Glad to know someone appreciates my amazing-ness."

He shook his head, chuckling. "There's this end-of-summer party at Sam Luke's place. You should come."

I froze. And I swear my cheeks tinted a disgustingly rose colour. Screw you cheeks. "Um, maybe." I looked at my phone. Only three minutes for me to get home. "I really have to go now."

"One race?"

"Next time."

He nodded. Is that disappointment in his eyes? "I'm holding you to that."

I smiled. "Of course you are." I turned around, and with one last glance over my shoulder, I ran.

* * *

**Fang **

"Ten more laps! Another ten for the last five people!"

What the hell, Coach. We're not fish. We don't have jet packs. Or energy boosters. It's only about time before someone freely drowns themselves from this.

"Just ten more. Better not be last, Fang. Unless you want ten more, of course." The boy beside me, Dylan, smirked.

"No way, man. No way in freaking hell." And with that, I swam off, Dylan behind me.

"Five more laps!"

No comment. There's honestly nothing to even say about this.

"Three more!" Coach turned to some kid placing last. ''Kick those legs, Hans! Move your arms and- Don't stop! Do you want to-"

I'm just not going to listen to that anymore.

One more lap to go, and I'm done. The wall it right there and-

Touchdown.

I hopped out of the pool and leaned against the wall.

"That was killer." Dylan said, coming up beside me.

"No really." I shook my head, splashing water around me. Suddenly, I thought about that girl from yesterday. She wasn't that bad looking. Not overly dressed, which I'm glad for, and her smile… "Hey D, what's with the girl that used to live in my house?"

Dylan froze. "What?"

"I saw her on my yard yesterday."

Dylan's eyes grew into giant saucers. "You're kidding, right? Please tell me you're kidding. Damn, the girls are gonna freak if they hear that Max Ride is here."

Max Ride. Has a nice ring to it.

What am I thinking? _Has a nice ring to it?_

Somebody shoot me.

"I'm not kidding. Why?"

Dylan shook his head. "Some shit went down about three years ago. Basically, her dad just screwed all our families and our money went down the drain. Then they left town." He looked away into the distance. "She was part of the flock."

"She is?"

"Was. Past tense, dude." Dylan looked at me. "Is she hot?"

I blinked. "Uh, she's okay, I guess."

Dylan shook his head, for about the hundredth time. Then he looked me in the eyes head-on. "Don't."

I raised a brow. "Don't what?"

"She's off-limits."

I nodded slowly.

Max Ride. Her dirty blonde hair swept into a perfect ponytail. That flash of a smile that just seemed to light up everything. Those eyes that-

Snap out of it, Fang. Don't think about her. You heard Dylan.

_She's off-limits._

* * *

**Max**

What am I doing here? Why won't my stupid feet move? The fastest set of legs a 16-year-old could have, for once, is as still as a tree trunk. I keep telling myself it's simple. Just turn around, a three-sixty degree turn, and run for your life. Get out of here. Dead end.

But no. Of course not. I can't move. My stupid, stupid feet just won't freaking-

Wow. They move. It's a miracle. Unfortunately, they're headed the wrong way.

Where?

Toward the house. Sam Luke's house. The Sam Luke that I once dated. My first boyfriend. Who turned out to be a retard. Someone I really hoped to never come across, much less step into his house for a party that I wasn't even invited to. Great. Can't wait to see how this turns out.

One thing you should know about me: I'm not afraid. Nothing at all, really. But this, stepping into the house where my former friends will be, is a nightmare.

My hand somehow got a hold of Sam's door. And on the count of three, I will open this door.

_Here goes nothing._

1

2

3

I'm in.

And the first thing I see is Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome with the tongue of a red-headed slut down his throat. Pleasant. He hooks up with one of the private school bitches. Just _pleasant_.

"Max." Someone breathed my name behind me.

I turned around to see Dylan G-D (don't ask me what those letters stand for. Nobody seems to know. Not even Dylan himself. Or his parents, or his grandparents, or his great grandparents, or his- you get the point).

I could say that I'm shocked to see him, which is both a lie and not really. Of course I expected him to be here. He's a Lighty. He lives on Light Circle. But that doesn't change the fact that Dylan's now a full-on teen guy. He actually looked good with his golden blonde hair and his muscle-y body. Last time I saw him, he was a pretty skinny kid. Not the most dazzling duckling.

But that was three years ago.

"Dylan." I practically whispered that. My voice seemed to have run away from me. Remind me to thank my voice later for that.

Dylan glanced around to see if anyone was watching, then gave me a brief hug. "Hey. How've you been? What are you doing here?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but my voice was still gone. I cleared my throat and was about to try again, when a sudden "Oh. Em. Gee." rang through the air, followed by the clacking of heels.

I spun around to see the one and only, Monique Napier, more commonly known as Nudge, standing in front of me.

I'll admit, at first glance, I couldn't believe it was Nudge. Sweet little Nudge, with her head full of cute little curls. Nudge who was always so chatty, she could literally talk your ear off. Nudge and her knack for fashion and all things girly, with her inner computer nerd self that no one but I knew about.

I looked at the Nudge now. This was not Nudge. Not the one I knew, at least.

This new Nudge was wearing scary-high heels, some small and ultra short things that I assume are supposed to be clothes, pin-straight hair, and a face caked with pounds of makeup.

Oh god, Nudge. What did you do to yourself?

"_You._" Nudge snarled at me. "You don't belong here, Asher." That's what people who don't live on Light Circle are called. Ashers. "Hell, you don't even belong here in Ash Creek anymore. Why are you even here, Ride? Is daddy here to take whatever else we have left?"

I was beyond shocked. I have never heard a single bad thing come out of that mouth of hers. And now…

"Well, tell him he can't. Tell your precious daddy to get the hell away from us."

"Guess what, _Nudge_. My 'daddy'? Yeah, well, he's gone. Nobody knows where the hell he is. So there. He won't be back. Happy?" I growled out. Hey, looks like my voice is back.

Nudge blinked. Obviously, she wasn't expecting that from me.

I took that moment to look around her. Ella Martinez, in all her glory, was standing beside Nudge, staring at me. On Nudge's other side, stood Angel Williams, looking as angelic as ever, also staring at me. Actually, everyone was staring at me, Including Mr. TDH, who stood a few steps behind Nudge.

Nudge seemed to have de-shocked herself. "Get out. Just get out. Get the freaking hell-"

Ella clamped her hand over Nudge's mouth. Nudge's eyes were blazing, the deadly glare giving me chills. Not because it's scary. Hell no. I just never thought those soft brown eyes could ever get that hard.

As Nudge continued to glare at me, Ella released her hand from covering Nudge's mouth, and walked up to me. Ella grabbed my shoulders, gently, and said, "You should leave."

I stared at Ella. I looked over her shoulder at Mr. TDH, who looked away, almost ashamed. My eyes skidded over to Angel, whose eyes looked like it was both apologetic and pleading at the same time.

I gulped. Then my anger started to build. "I-"

Cue the doors, slamming open. In came two boys, one tall and skinny, and the other slightly shorter. Both had goofy grins on their bright faces, hair soaked and messy.

After a moment, I realized that the tall and skinny kid with strawberry blonde hair is Jeff 'Iggy' Griffiths, and Zephyr 'Gazzy' Grifiths. The Pyro Twins. The Incredulous

"That was epic!" Gazzy high-fived Iggy.

"Hell to the yes! We gotta do that again! But first," Iggy said, with a wicked grin.

Gazzy grinned a grin that matched his twin's.

"FOOD!"

I mentally lmfao-ed. Boys will be boys.

Gazzy turned away from Iggy and was about to walk toward the kitchen, he froze. Iggy, who was walking behind his twin, ran into him.

"Hey, what's with the-?" And he stared.

Iggy and Gazzy broke off at the same time. I couldn't tell who said what, but all I heard was "MAXIMUM RIDE!" and "YOU'RE BACK!" and then I was crushed in a sandwich hug.

"Hey." I said, in a strained voice. Since, you know, I'm being crushed alive here. "Uh, ow?"

The Twins let go. Gazzy said, "How you been?"

I smiled a faint smile. Almost sad. But Max Ride does not show weakness. So she will not admit that the smile is pretty sad. And she noticed that she's talking about herself in third person.

"I have to go." I said, in a small voice, which makes me want to kill my vocal cords. But that's not really going to do anything.

Gazzy started stammering. Iggy moved him aside and said to me, "But you just got here."

"I know. But.." And with that, Max Ride sped out the door and down the street, once again speaking about herself in third.

* * *

**Fang**

Damn.

* * *

_**thanks for reading!**_

_**review! sil-vous plait! pour favour! please! **_

_**and if you can't think of anything to review with, or you just feel like answering this...**_

**What is your favourite song, and/or band/artist ?**

_**anywho, toodles for now!**_

_**-zammielicious98**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**hi people! **_

_**omg. thank you guys soo much for the reviews! you can't believe how happy i was! which helped me write quicker. so reviews are good! good good goodie goode good! ^.^**_

_**kay so heres the second chappie!**_

_**disclaimer: i am female. james patterson is a GUY. as for kieran scott..well, i doubt shes my age. and im still in school. so yeah...**_

* * *

**Max**

_You don't belong here, Asher._

I've never taken any insults seriously like this. I've never went all teary-eyed or even looked fazed. But that, what Nudge said to me, for some reason felt like a handful of knives that had been stabbed into my heart repeatedly.

It hurt.

After I ran off that night, I felt empty. Like someone turned off the lights and it was just darkness. I couldn't believe my friends whom I've known since the time of diapers, would just reject me like that.

Curse you, dad. They all hate me.

I sighed. Enough of this drama. If the Lightys don't want me around, well, then I won't. I am an Asher now, as Nudge kindly mentioned. I got to start living the Asher life.

Though I'm not sure if sitting at a lunch table by yourself on the first day is a good start.

Huh. Oh well, I have to start somewhere. Looking around the cafeteria, I could see everyone with their friends, chatting away. I looked up to see the upper floor cafeteria, all shiny in Lighty glory. No Asher dares to go up, of course, since no Asher wants to get beat up or humiliated by them.

From my seat here, alone in a corner-ish area, I could see my old table, where I used to sit with my friends. This school is junior high and high school put together. That table they're at now was our table since the seventh grade. I could the Twins were jumping up and down with spaghetti on their heads, while Ella and Nudge tried to get them to calm down. A ghost of a smile appeared on my face. Nothing will stop the Twins one they get started.

My eyes flickered over to the mysterious currently-no-named guy at the table. He was wearing a very similar getup to what he wore the last time I saw him. Dylan was chatting away with him, Angel speaking a couple words here and there, while Mr. TDH just nodded, shrugged, or shrodded; my new amazing word for nodding and shrugging at the same time. Remind me to call up the dictionary people sometime.

Suddenly, in all his silent-ness, Mr. TDH glanced over at me, as if sensing me looking at him. Our eyes locked. Once again, my cheeks defied me, and I hastily looked away. Hopefully nobody noticed that.

_Slam._ "You. Blue or red?"

I blinked, snapping back to reality. _WTF?_ I looked up from my seat to see a girl with electric blue hair sit down in front of me, with her lunch tray on the table across from mine. Beside her, a tall girl with long red hair, sat down. "I asked you a question. You're supposed to answer it. So, blue or red."

I'm still confused. "Uh, blue?"

The blue-haired girl grinned, her eyes sparkling. "You're clear."

"Of..?" My smart comebacks are being delayed, as I am still wondering what the hotdog is going on.

"She means you're cool." The tall red-head said. "She asks everyone, just to mess with me." She said, pointing to her own hair cherry red and the blue-haired girl's hair. "I'm Astrea. And this bum here is-"

"-Smurfie. Nice to meet ya." Smurfie held out a fist, in which I tapped my fist back.

Astrea rolled her eyes. "Her real name's Braelyn. But don't call her that. Not with her Smurfalicious blue hair on her head."

I nodded, letting everything sink in. Whoa. Since when do people come up and talk to me like we've known each other forever? "Maximum Ride. Max for short."

Smurfie looked up from her pizza; I didn't even realize she was eating. "Sweet name." She took a bite. "So Max, what's with the whole loner thing?"

Astrea shot Smurfie a glare. "Braelyn!" She shook her head and said to me, "Sorry. She's not normal."

I laughed. "Really? I didn't even notice, not with that blue-hair. Completely normal."

Astrea smiled, while Smurfie pouted. "Whatever. So Max, you play any sports?"

I shrugged. "Track and field. Mostly track, all distances. And I play forward in soccer."

Smurfie fist-pumped and grinned a wicked grin. "Dude. I'm loving you already. I'm a forward also. Plus, I'm a freaking rabbit on crack when it comes to jumping in track and field."

"Hey, don't forget the goalie! Smurfie, we wouldn't have won last year's championship if it wasn't for my epic saves." Astrea turned to me. "I'm not a track star, but I'm soccer all the way. We should play a little shoot off, if you're done eating. I'll be in net, obviously, and you and Smurfie can try all you want on me." Her eyes sparkled.

Holy cow muffins. These people are amazing. I briefly glanced up at my former friends. Guess I can manage without them after all.

I turned to Smurfie and Astrea, smirking. "You. Are. On."

* * *

**Fang**

"I got Mr. Hiatt. He's the worst sophomore English teacher." Ella shivered.

Angel nodded. "My sister had him before. She had to transfer classes because her mark started dropping thanks to him. You should too."

"Definitely." Nudge said. She turned to me. "Fang, what do you think?"

I shrugged and turned away. Ignoring the girls', I looked around the school yard.

First day of sophomore year, over. The girls and I were headed toward the big front doors of the school to go home.

This school, Ash Creek School, is a pretty big school, and thanks to the Lighty's families, this school is also pretty rich. It's all First Class here; more for the Lightys. The Ashers get everything the same, minus the cafeteria spots and some clubs and stuff that basically scream out LIGHTY.

Speaking of Ashers…

Max. That party at Sam's was so not a good idea. I'm really stupid. What was I thinking? Offering a girl I barely know, to go to a party that she's not invited to? Damn, it was real bad that night. Nudge said some bitchy stuff, even for her.

Then there was me. Just standing like an idiot at the back. I could've done something. I _should've_ done something. Defended Max, told Nudge to shut up, cause a distraction, change the topic, whatever. Anything would've been better than standing there while poor Max got verbally pounded like that.

But then, Nudge and the others would be all 'Why are you defending her?' They don't know about my little encounter with Max. And I don't plan on telling them.

I shook my head. All I've been able to think about lately is Max. Max Ride, the girl who I found hugging a tree in my yard. Max Ride, the girl with a wicked running record. Max Ride, sparkly eyes and-

Sparkly?

"Fang! Catch!"

I looked up just in time to see a furry thing hurdle toward me. I plucked it out of the air and noticed it's the swim team mascot: Frieda the Fish. I know, Frieda. Don't ask who came up with that. Not me.

Dylan came jogging up to me. "It's yours, man. You're our new team captian!"

No way. "For real?"

"Hell yeah! We need to celebrate. Ice cream at Cherry Top? It's on me. The Pathetic Pair and the girls are on their way there."

I nodded. I thought the girls were just with me a second ago..?

Dylan smiled. "One day, dude, you got to start talking more."

I shook my head, smirking.

Dylan just shook his head. "Okay Mr. Silent Guy. Let's go."

As I turned the corner with Dylan, I saw a flash of dirty blonde hair out of the corner of my eye. "One sec. Meet you outside."

I walked away from Dylan, before he could reply. I saw him headed towards the door, not facing me. Good.

I caught up to Max and tapped her shoulder. "Hey. Talk to you for a sec?"

Max looked a bit shocked, and kind of pissed, to see me standing here in front of her, but said, "Sure" and followed me.

Finally. This is my chance to apologize for being a silent jerk at the party. I didn't do anything, but I guess that's the problem.

I cleared my throat. "Um," Okay, not a good start. "I'm sorry." And a bit blunt there.

She raised a brow.

"At the party. When, uh," This is slightly awkward. "Nudge."

Max nodded and looked away. "Short, but okay. Yeah, that night…" She trailed off, looking a little uncomfortable. "Not my favourite party moment."

"Yeah." Wow. Even for a guy of many words, I could at least think of something other than a pathetic 'yeah'. "I'm sorry about that."

"Why are you saying sorry? It's not like you did anything. Just standing there like an idiot? Thanks for that, by the way." She snapped.

Ouch.

"I would've done something but-"

"But, you didn't." Max glanced around, then said, "So you done? That's it?"

My heart sank. I thought maybe if I apologized, she'd be a bit happier with me.

Which is probably why I'm continuing this conversation. "I was wondering if we could be friends."

She spluttered. "And how about your friends? My old ones? The ones that rejected me pretty harshly?"

Crap.

"I-"

Max turned around and walked away. She stopped after a few steps and looked over her shoulder at me, paused, then just kept walking.

Ouch. X2.

* * *

**Max**

"Whoohoo! I got you! I got you!" Smurfie started jumping around, pumping her fists and cheering.

Astrea and I groaned. We've been playing Call of Duty for what, 2 hours? And Smurfie beat us _every single freaking time._ I didn't even realize how easy it is to lose like that.

And I hate losing.

I stood up. "Best 2 out of 3 rounds."

Smurfie stopped jumping and smirked. "You're on, girl."

Here we go again. I ain't losing this time, either.

Smurfie invited Astrea and I over to her place to hang out. Little did I know, we were gonna be creamed at CoD for two hours. But you know what? Even though Astrea and I are losing really bad, this is actually a lot of fun. Hanging with Ashers is a lot of fun. I'm liking the whole Asher-thing so far.

And these crazy people I now call my new friends are amazing.

"One more," Smurfie mumbled to herself.

Shoot, she's winning. Again.

"Yes! Winner! Again!"

Astrea and I shared a look, and then laughed along with the laughing Smurf.

For the first time since I moved here. . .

I'm happy.

* * *

**Fang**

"Reynolds! You're the caption now. Lead the warm-up! Now!"

I mentally shook my head. Sometimes, Coach is just… Coachy. Then again, he _is_ a Coach.

"Okay!" I got everyone's attention. For a brief second, I thought of that big red Staples button that says '_That was easy'_.

Since I don't talk, I just gestured the team to follow me. It turned out pretty well, actually. I guess I can make this team captain thing work. Sweet.

After about an hour of practice, we cut short for the day. Coach said he had some 'stuff' to do before school started for the day. Who knew, teachers have a life.

"Dude, nice work." Dylan said, walking beside me to the change room.

I nodded in thanks. He got what I meant.

We took a shower, got ready, and headed out to the soccer field. We still have time before school starts, and before anyone really decides to show up for school.

Dylan and I found a little surprise when we got to the field. We planned to just kick around and shoot, play one-on-one or whatever, but the field turns out to be occupied. By girls.

One of them being Max.

My heart sped up and my hands began to get sweaty. What the hell is wrong with me?

"Max!" Dylan called out. Nobody else is here, especially not the girls, so we shouldn't get caught. Good.

Max, hearing her name, turned around, causing her to get hit in the head by an incoming soccer ball.

She scowled at Dylan. "Thanks a lot for that!" She turned away, choosing to ignore us, and shot the ball into the net with the most perfect kick I have ever seen. This girl is gooooood.

Some redhead in the goal called out to us, wiping her forehead. "Hey boys! Wanna join?"

I looked over at Dylan. He shrugged and faced the redhead. "Why not? It's always fun to beat some girls."

Max faced us again, glaring. "Oh? Think you tough guys can beat up little girls? I'd like to see that."

I just smirked in reply. Though on the inside, my stomach sank to my toes. Everyone could hear the playful sarcasm, but only I heard the hard edge to her voice.

The blue-haired girl spoke. "Well let's get this show on the road!"

Dylan and I ran over the rest of the space between us and the girls.

Max glanced at me, a little spark in her eye. Jeez, she's confusing. And so attra-

"Names?" I asked, cutting my brain off (ha, that didn't come out right).

The blue-haired girl jumped with her hand raised. "Smurfie!"

Dylan snuck a glance at me with a look saying 'That chick's crazy'. And I couldn't agree less.

I looked over at the redhead standing in front of the goal and tilted my head to the side in question.

She smiled. "Astrea."

I nodded at her, Dylan saying a friendly hi. Then he said his name for the two girls who don't know him.

All eyes turned to me.

Oh yeah, my name. "Fang."

Max raised a brow, but said nothing.

"That's an epic name! Almost as epic as Smurfie!" Smurfie exclaimed.

I nodded. Okay. She's definitely crazy.

Max cleared her throat. "You two idiots know what my name is. So," She glanced back at Smurfie, who winked at her, then faced us again. "Let's go!" And with that, Smurfie passed her the ball, and Max dashed away.

Crap. I almost forgot about her running status: Superhuman fast.

I raced after her. I'll admit, I'm a pretty awesome runner, so I managed to catch up to Max.

She flicked her eyes toward me for half a second, before deking me and dashing toward the net.

Oh damn she's good.

I briefly looked around to see where Dylan went, and saw that he was covering Smurfie. And by that, I mean chatting her up. He seemed to be looking at Max every so often, too.

I mentally facepalmed.

Shaking my head, I continued after Max.

We kept going like that for awhile, her trying to get around me and running off, me catching up and trying to steal the ball.

Somehow, an hour seemed to have past, and we got a bit of an audience.

I froze and looked over at Dylan. He seemed to be thinking the same thing, and quickly started walking off the field. Not before sneaking a look at Max, in a way that made me want to punch him.

I followed quickly after him, glancing back to see Max myself. I could tell she understood, but I think she was disappointed.

I quickly looked away, not wanting to feel guilty, even though I am.

Someone tapped my shoulder. I froze, again, thinking it's Nudge or Ella or Angel. But no, thankfully it's just Max.

"Hey. Uh, thanks." she mumbled.

My eyebrows raised.

She looked down at her muddy sneakers. "Thanks for playing around. It was fun."

I couldn't help it. I smiled. "It was." I looked over my shoulder to see Dylan waving frantically. I looked at Max again. I hope I can hang with her again. "I gotta go." I muttered. "The girls. . ."

She nodded. "Don't wanna be seen with the reject. I get it. You're a Lighty. I'm an ex-Lighty-turned-Asher. No biggie." She turned around and said over her shoulder, "See you around, Fang."

I watched her walk back to her friends. It could just be my imagination, but I swear I heard a "I hope." from her.

Oh god. This is good, right? _Right?_

Dazed, I walked over to Dylan, just as the girls came running over.

"Ew! You're sweaty!" Nudge shrieked.

I stared at her. "Yeah."

Nudge rolled her eyes at my lack of words.

Angel giggled. "You guys ARE really sweaty. What did you do?"

"Just some guy stuff. You know, running around, getting sweaty, stuff like that. You girls should join us next time." Dylan teased.

Nudge and Ella wrinkled their noses.

Angel just giggled again. "I'll pass."

Dylan grinned and put his arm around her waist.

Yes. In case you're wondering what's going on between the two, yes. They're together.

The girls led the way toward the school doors, Dylan still at Angel's side. I stood back a bit, and snuck a glance at Max. I had to.

Oh, look at that. She's staring at me too. Hm. And there's that cute little blush that's just so-

I just lost whatever manliness I had left.

* * *

**Max**

Fang. Ohmigod. _Fang_.

That is hot.

I mean, it's too vampire-ish. Like, is he obssessed with creepy pale dudes in retarded capes, who go around sucking blood out of people, speaking in a weird accent?

That's nonsense. He's nonsense. He's a-

"Hm?"

I blinked. "Hm?"

Astrea frowned. "Hm?"

I frowned. "Hm?"

Smurfie frowned. "Hm? Wait, what are we 'hm?' -ing for? I'm lost."

I agreed. "So am I. Astrea?"

"I asked you a question."

I facepalmed. "Ask again?"

She rolled her eyes, but did anyway. "Do you like Fang?"

I backed up into my locker. Okay, whoa. Where'd that question come from? It's not like I'm in love with a super attractive guy with a name that still makes no sense to me. I don't even know this dude!

I laughed. But even I admit, it sounded weak. "What? You're kidding, right? Why would I like _Fang_?"

Astrea raised a brow, the corner of her lips curving up. "Oh, I don't know. Just by the way you look at him, it just seemed a bit.. More-than-friends like."

I don't usually react like this, but I gasped. My jaw dropped. My eyes bulged out like those chihuahuas. I stared at Astrea, as if she has four heads in different shapes.

She smirked. Smurfie smirked.

I shook my head. "Nah-uh, no way, mm mm, nada, nope, nuppers, NO. I do not like Fang Whateverhislastname."

Astrea and Smurfie shared a look.

"He's not even a vampire!" I blurted. What the hell did I just say?

Astrea's eyebrows shot up, while Smurfie laughed her butt off.

"Max," Astrea gave me a look.

Uh oh...

I ran. They chased me.

Not good.

* * *

**Fang**

"Fang, so you know how-"

Ella was cut off by a blur of movement crashing into me.

Oof. "Excuse me?"

The blur turns out to be Max. Max Max Max. THE Max. The Max of Max. MaxiMaxiMax. Maxo. Maxilio. Maxa-

"Get off him!"

I turned to Ella, who stared at Max.

Max got off me and straightened up. She gave Ella a fake cheery smile. "I did. Enjoy you're happy meal!"

Ella stared. Then she shook her head, grabbed my arm, and said, "Let's go, Fang. She's just an Asher. We got better things to do."

Once out of Max's earshot, I said, "What did she do?"

"Hm?" Ella replied, not really paying attention.

"Max. What did she do to piss you guys off so much?"

Ella stopped walking and turned to face me. "Her dad."

I got a bit angry. "That was her dad. Not her or her mom."

Ella rolled her eyes. "There're more things. Things you don't need to know." She walked off ahead of me, leaving me standing here alone.

* * *

**Max**

Astrea and Smurfie finally dropped the whole Fang topic.

Now they're blabbing about my stupid mistake.

What did I do? Well, I signed up for the Swimmies club. Really crappy name, but it's supposed to be a fun club. My old friends and I dreamed of joining once we got to the high school grades. I didn't get a chance to yet since I moved, so now I'm joining.

I gave Astrea her pen back, after I signed my name on the sign-up sheet.

"Are you kidding?"

Astrea, Smurfie, and I spun around.

Nudge, Ella, and Angel came up.

"You have got to be kidding me. You can't join." Nudge said, glaring.

I glared back. "I'll do what I want."

Angel spoke. "It's a Lighty club. I don't think you would want to join."

"And last time I checked, you're not a Lighty anymore." Nudge sneered.

Ella rolled her eyes. "It'll just be awkward. You'll be left out of it."

I raised a brow. "It doesn't say it's strictly a Lighty club anywhere. There's no rule against Ashers joining."

Nudge narrowed her eyes. "Who cares? We don't want you in."

Wow Nudge. You're nice.

Ella grabbed Nudge's arm and started dragging her down the hall. "Leave the Asher alone. I'm done with her."

They started walking away. Angel glanced back with a look in her eyes. I couldn't tell if it's a good look or a bad one. Whatever.

I turned to Astrea and Smurfie, who somehow managed not to be noticed.

"Well. That was fun. Let's go." I started walking down the hall.

The first meeting for the Swimmies is after school today.

And before I knew it, school was over for the day, and now I'm sitting on the bleachers in the pool atrium.

I sat at the back, away from Nudge, Ella, and Angel.

There were a good number of girls here, all Lightys. Great, I'm the only Asher.

"Girls! We are gonna have a great swim season!" said Laura, the leader of this club. "You will all be assigned to one guy one the swim team. You will be responsible for encouraging them throughout meets, and give as much support you can. The first thing you girls have to do is to decorate the boys' specific wall here by the pool. There will be a specific wall space with their picture. Their first meet is coming up soon, so we need to cheer them on! The decorations will be up then, to show our spirit!" Laura clapped her tands together. "Okay! Line up! You will all choose a random name."

All the girls scrambled to line up.

Laura recorded everyone's names and the guy they got.

Nudge. "Ew! This guy is such a loser! Can I repick?"

Laura shook her head. "Sorry Nudge. You're stuck with Steve."

Nudge steamed and sat down on the bleachers.

Ella was next. "Reese Lase? Who's that?"

Laura smiled. "Not a loser."

Ella shrugged, but smiled. "Okay."

Angel's turn. "Dylan G-H! Yay!" She smiled a bright smile and skipped over to Nudge and Ella.

I'm next. I picked a name and opened the slip of paper.

Oh. My. Cheesefish.

I gulped. "Fang Reynolds."

Nudge and Ella stood up and shrieked. "What?"

Nudge stormed over. "Laura! She can't have him! He's our friend! Not this freaks!"

"Sorry again, Nudge. She picked him. Rules are rules."

Nudge shrieked in anger and sat back down with Ella and Angel.

Hehe. She is piiiiissed.

I sat back down at the back.

"Alright girls! We will be decorating the walls tomorrow after school! Make sure you bring your stuff! See you girls then!"

We all scattered away slowly.

"Poor Fang. I'm gonna have to warn him to expect the worst decorations. It'll be so embarrasing for him! Everyone's gonna see the wall at the meet!" Nudge pouted.

Ella rolled her eyes. She seems to do that a lot now. "Yeah, he's gonna have to expect dollar store worthy decors. We'll have to cheer him up afterwards."

I fumed. Come on, sure, I don't have much money. But I can decorate a freaking wall. I'll just need to get some money somewhere. A job would be nice. I'll have to talk to Astrea and Smurfie.

Nudge called to me. "Aim for Walmart. It's better than the dollar store!"

I glared at her, but walked away.

Fang, you are not gonna believe you eyes when you see your wall.

* * *

**Fang**

I think I just shit my pants.

The stupid Swimmies club decorated our wall. It's some tradition, since our school is hung up on spirit.

I could see all the other guys' walls decorated with stickers, glitter, streamers, and whatever.

But mine...

My whole section of the wall was painted, streamers all over the wall (some attached to the ceiling), glitter, freaking balloons, fish cutouts, and so much more. And above my picture, it said in big sparkly letters:

Go Fang Go! Good luck! You can do it! You're the best! Fang Rules!

Once again, I'll repeat:

I think I just shit my pants.

I heard that Max was my Swimmie. They girls told me not to expect much, or anything, since she doesn't have much money.

So this is not what I expected. I can't believe Max went to all this trouble to decorate a wall. For me.

"You like?" Max stood there smiling behind me.

"You did this?"

"Well duh. I'm you're Swimmie."

"How? The girls-"

Max rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah. I got Astrea and Smurfie to help me get some money. They found a job for me and I worked all afternoon yesterday. All this crap is kinda pricey. Especially since I had to buy a ladder. Astrea doesn't have one, and neither does Smurfie."

I just blinked. This is unbelievable. To think she did this all for me? Maybe she does care. Maybe-

I put my hand on her shoulder. I would hug her, but I don't really hug people.

Max stared at me weirdly. She put her hand on my wrist and brought it down. "Okay. Your welcome. But I did this because I had to. And to prove a point to the girls."

"Oh." I think my face fell.

And I think she saw that.

She stammered. "Um, uh, I gotta-"

"Maxie!" Gazzy came up and jumped on Max.

"Ow." She looked at Gazzy, who was clinging onto her back. "Wanna get off?"

Gazzy grinned brightly. "Nope!"

"Woah, did you do that?" Iggy said, coming up and trying to peel Gazzy off Max's back.

"Yeah." Max said, struggling to get Gazzy off. "Jeez Gaz, you're heavy!"

He pouted. "You're just jealous that you're not strong like me!"

"If I was, I wouldn't be able to do this," Her eyes sparkled for a second, before she shoved Gazzy into the pool behind us.

Max and Iggy howled with laughter. Iggy managed to get out, "Sucker! She got you bad!" while laughing.

Gazzy climbed out of the pool, dripping water everywhere. He came to stand in front of Max and Iggy with a mischievious smile. He turned around... and dropped the bomb.

"Ugh! Gross, Gazzy!" Max groaned, covering her nose.

Iggy nodded. "Can't. . . BREATHE!"

Gazzy cackled, and jumped and shook around, splashing water at them both. "That's what you get!"

Then we heard a shriek. An all too familiar shriek.

"Gazzy! That's sooooo _gross_! Let's just get outta here." An arm hooked itself around mine and dragged me away.

The Terrible Twins ran after the girls, shoving each other on the way.

Leaving Max alone. Again.

* * *

**_:'(_**

**_review? it'_****_ll make me very happy ;)_**


	3. Chapter 3

_**disclaimer: yeahyeah i dont own. except for Smurfie&Astrea&Ace&Will.**_

* * *

**Max**

"Hun, you don't need them. You've got us!"

"Smurfie's right. We're here. And we're gonna rock the house tomorrow!"

Smurfie nodded excitedly. "Hell yes we are! I'm chosen as the freaking awesome DJ!"

I smiled. Today's Thursday, and tomorrow's Friday: the 'First Friday' school dance. One of Ash Creek School's many traditions includes a dance on the first Friday of the school year. It's also the craziest party of the year.

"Should I wear this red beanie or this purple one?" Smurfie asked.

"Purple. Don't steal my red-ness." Astrea said, digging around Smurfie's closet. "And, where this." She tossed a pair of sparkly knee-high turquoise Converse at Smurfie.

Smurfie grinned. "I forgot I even owned that. This is gonna be epic!"

I just smiled at them and looked out the window.

Yesterday was both amazing and terrible. Fang was happy about the decorating I did on his wall. Sure, I acted all 'I don't care' but really, I was shaking with joy. Then when the Dynamic Duo came along, I goofed around with them as I always used to do before.

The girls just had to spoil it.

Why won't they forgive me? Go hate on my dad, whatever, but can't they at least be nice to me? We've been friends our whole lives! Could they really just give that up?

I guess they can.

Sigh.

"Max, do you think attachable wings are too much?"

I snapped my head away from the window to see Smurfie struggling to put on rainbow coloured wings. Astrea was shaking her head while trying to get Smurfie to not put them on.

"You're just gonna look ridiculous!" Astrea kept saying.

Smurfie pouted. "Dude, it's called a dance. Not a ball. At dances, people go crazy. And since I'm already crazy, I must go extra crazy. These wings are the perfect touch to my uber-crazy outfit!"

I cut in. "That's beyond crazy. But," I smirked. "That is the perfect touch to your uber-craziness."

Astrea raised her hands in surrender. "Okay! Just don't come to me if you fall off the stage, trying to fly!"

Smurfie grinned triumphantly. "No promises!"

Shaking her head and muttering under her breathe, Astrea turned to me. "You need to wear something tomorrow too." She started digging around the closet again.

I whined. You can't blame me. I'm a jeans-tshirt-sneakers kinda person. "What's wrong with jeans to a dance?"

"Nothing. Except for the fact that it's the First Friday dance. Nobody looks normal. Everyone always goes over-the-top, however they do it." Astrea straightened up and turned to me, holding stuff in her hands. "Just 'cause I'm nice, I won't force you into wings or anything. But you must wear this."

I took the stuff and looked at it. I turned it around in my hands, tilting my head back and forth.

"Not bad actually..."

Astrea smiled. "Tomorrow is gonna be the night of your life, girl. You haven't seen anything if you haven't been to the First Friday dance."

"It's true!" Smurfie said, jumping around, making her wings flap. "Aren't we such awesome people to hang with? Ashers aren't so bad, eh?" She stopped jumping and smiled.

I smiled back.

Smurfie couldn't have been more right. For once.

* * *

**Fang**

Ring!

I reached over to grab my cell.

Ella.

"Yo."

"Fang? You're home, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Come out." And she hung up.

Thanks Ella.

I walked out of my room and went downstairs. My mom was sitting in the kitchen, reading the news.

"Mom? I'm going out. Ella's here."

Mom looked up. "Fang? Do you have any homework?"

"It's the first week of school, Mrs. Reynolds." Ella said, coming through the door.

Mom smiled at her. "Hi Ella." She turned to me. "Where are you two going?"

I looked at Ella. She answered. "Everyone's at the shore."

Mom nodded. "Alright, go have fun!"

Ella and I walked away then.

"Where ARE we going?" I asked Ella, once we got outside. Dylan, Angel, and the Twins are out here too.

Ella grinned evilly. "I thought we could all have some fun! Now shoo, get in the car." She shoced us all into the car that I didn't notice was there until now.

As I looked at the driver's seat, I saw a familiar face.

"Maya?"

She smiled. "Hey Fang, Dylan, Angel, the Twins, and my darling sister."

Ella hopped into the passenger seat and turned to us. "She's our chaperone. I would've driven us myself, even without a license, but my lovely sister decided to cut in." She shrugged.

"Okay people, hold on!" Maya said, before speeding down our street.

The Twins hollered in excitement, Angel screamed, and Dylan and I just pushed ourselves into our seats.

If I don't make it, I blame the Martinez's.

After what felt like forever, Maya slammed on the breaks. "We're here! Now get out! I'll be down a block from here. Come down there when you're done."

We hopped out. Ella went into the trunk and grabbed a giant duffel bag.

Once Ella closed the trunk, Maya sped off again, literally leaving a cloud of dust. I wonder how she even got a license.

"Now what?" I asked.

Ella cleared her throat. "Look around! I've been given orders from dearest Nudge. We are all to 'decorate' this little building."

"What is this place?" Dylan walked around a bit, taking in the grey block of a building.

"Just help me, will you?" She dropped the duffel bag and opened it, revealing a pile of toilet paper rolls, spray paint cans, and silly string cans.

The Twins dove for the bag. "Sweet! This is epic!" Gazzy exclaimed, smiling bigger than I thought was humanely possible. Iggy nodded, smiling just as wide as his twin.

They grabbed a bit of everything. Ella did too, then gestured us to grab stuff as well.

Dylan and I shared a look. This didn't seem like a good idea. I don't know why, since we've done much worse things, but this just felt wrong.

"Dudes! Come on! Let's TP this place!" Iggy called to Dylan and I.

I noticed Angel taking her time. She was smiling, but her eyes said something else. Does she know something the rest of us don't know about? Minus Ella, probably.

Ella tapped her foot impatiently. "What's the hold up? Guys, we've done so much crazier shit than this! Come on Fang, Dylan! You two are always into this stuff."

Dylan swore under his breath then looked at me. Does he know something too? "Dude, we gotta do this. We're dead if we don't." He walked over to the bag and picked up a roll of toilet paper.

I sighed and did the same.

"On the count of three," Ella said. "One.. Two..," She looked over at me. "Three!"

We all charged for the building, throwing toilet paper here, spraying red paint there, and squirting silly string just about everywhere.

Before we knew it, the little building looked like a giant rainbow unicorn came by and took a dump on it.

The Twins laughed and high fived. Ella smirked. Angel giggled and took a picture. Dylan grinned. I stared impassively.

_This is wrong. This is wrong._

But that doesn't make any sense! Ella said Nudge told her to do this with us. It's probably just one of Nudge's family's rented buildings.

Suddenly, we all heard the sound of a car rolling into the little driveway.

We all froze. Then Ella and the Twins yelled, "Run!"

And we ran. Maya said she was parked a block down, so we all dashed our way down the block.

Not before I looked back.

Max was staring at me, blank look on her face, while her mom stared in horror at their house.

I quickly looked away. Dylan and Angel were trying to hide their faces too. Did they know Max lived here? Was that what they were hiding? Why they doubted all this?

I ran harder.

Turns out my conscience wasn't so wrong after all.

* * *

**Max**

"Up or down?" Smurfie called from on top of a ladder.

Hm. "Up. And over to the left a bit."

Smurfie moved the banner. "How 'bout now?"

I shook my head. "You moved it too far to the left!"

"Argh!" She tried again. "Now?"

I shook my head again.

"That's it. Someone else can take my job!" Smurfie dropped the banner and walked down the ladder. She walked over to me. "Do you wanna try it?"

"Never. Too much work." I looked around. "Where's-"

"Looking for me? You're so sweet." Astre came up to us. She looked at Smurfie. "I thought you were.." She glanced at the abandoned ladder.

Smurfie raised her hands in the air. "Don't make me go back! Astrea, you have no idea how horrifying the job you gave me is!"

Astrea raised a brow. "I gave you the easiest job."

"Lies!" Smurfie pointed a finger at Astrea. She turned to me. "Isn't she lying, Max?"

I looked Smurfie in the eye. "You're job was so hard, a kindergartener wouldn't be able to do it."

Smurfie smirked at Astrea.

"So hard, a preschooler would be able to do it better."

Smurfie glared. Astrea laughed.

"Thanks guys. I'm feeling the love."

I grinned. "You should be. Especially after I helped with you're job. I don't help just anyone. My services are meant for owls only. You were an exception. So be glad. You're special."

Smurfie stuck her tongue out, then smiled. "So Astrea, what else can I do? I still wanna help set up for the dance tonight. No ladders this time. Or Owl Lady assistance."

I elbowed her. "I thought I did a good job, thank you very much."

Astrea laughed. "Balloon pumping? No ladders included. But no guarantee on the Owl Lady."

Smurfie pouted. "Fine, I'll handle Owl Lady." She smiled. "Come one, birdies! Let's pump us up some balloons!" She skipped away, dragging Astrea and me along with her.

"Hey! I got other stuff to do! Smurfie!" Astrea tried to pull away.

Smurfie shook her head. "I said I'll deal with Owl Lady. By that I mean I'm getting _you_ to deal with her." She beamed. "The Birdie Crew is here to save the day! Balloons, don't fear! You'll be flying in no time!"

Astrea looked at me. "Is she high? I made sure no sugar or drugs are near her."

I shrugged. "Unless she's hiding anything in that ridiculous jacket, I don't know."

"Come ON! You guys are so slow! The balloons are calling out to us and -"

"Need some help?" said a tall blonde guy with dyed green tips.

Another guy with dark brown hair and purple streaks came up beside the blondie, holding a pump. He turned to Astrea. "You asked for a pump."

Astrea nodded. "That was like twenty minutes ago. What took you so long?"

The blondie spoke. "Nothing you need to know." He smirked. Then he saw me. "I'm Will."

"And I'm Ace." The other guy said.

I nodded. "Max."

Will was about to say something, but Smurfie beat him. "Balloon time!" She grabbed the pump out of Ace's hand. "Astrea? Where's the balloons?"

"Over by the stage." Astrea pointed.

Smurfie ran off with the pump, calling behind her shoulder to tell us to lift our lazy asses and come help her.

I rolled my eyes. "Who's up for some balloon pumping?" I said in a fake overly cheery voice.

"Might as well. Otherwise Astrea's gonna kick our asses." Will said, smirking at Astrea.

"Nah, we're safe from that," Ace said, a twinkle in his eye, "Since Astrea owes me for making me find a balloon pump."

Astrea groaned. "What do you want?"

Ace grinned. "Slow dance with me."

"No."

"Come one, just one."

"No."

"Please?"

"..."

"Yes?"

Astrea was about to shake her head, but I decided to cut in. "Yes." I imitated Astrea's voice."

She glared at me while Ace and Will cheered. Will wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "You just made his day." He ruffled my hair.

I shoved him off. "Dude, easy on the hair! I'd rather not go bald at age sixteen."

He just grinned. Rolling my eyes, I looked over to see Astrea being squeezed to death. "Ace. Chill. If you wanna dance with her, it's probably best not to kill her."

Ace let her go. Astrea grabbed my arm and marched us over to Smurfie. She called to the boys, "New job for you two! Banner duty." She had a smug smile on her face.

The guys faces were hilarious. I guess they agree with Smurfie. Banner duty must really be the worst.

We cracked up and continued over to Smurfie. "You owe me, by the way." Astrea said, shoving me.

I shoved her back. "For what? I got you someone to dance with! Be happy." I patted her back.

"The Owl Lady strikes again." Astrea muttered.

"Astrea-"

"Balloon time!" A purple balloon flew through the air and hit me square in the head. I figured out, the hard way, that the balloon was filled with water. I am now soaked.

I stalked over to Little Miss Blue head. "SMURFIE. YOU. ARE. DEAD."

Smurfie fell over from laughing so hard. Astrea waltzed around us, singing, "That's payback, Owl Lady!"

Oh how much I _love_ these people.

* * *

"This song goes out to a dearest friend of mine! Thank you Owl Lady!"

_Call Me Maybe_ started to blare out of the speakers.

Oh Smurfie.

This dance turned out to be not bad. Everyone looked so crazy, we could all be sent to a mental facility.

Smurfie's been doing a great job with the DJ thing. Everyone seems to love the wings (which just adds to how crazy the school is). Astrea's having more fun with Ace than she would admit. Even though she thinks Smurfie's wings are too out there, she's wearing the craziest had I've ever seen. It's so wacked up, I can't even describe how crazy it is.

How many times have I said crazy in the past something minutes?

Anyway, as for me, I somehow got stuck hanging with Will. He's not bad, actually. A cool kid to hang out at a crazy dance with. And there goes the word 'crazy' again.

"Want a drink?" Will asked.

I shrugged. "Sure. I'm pretty thirsty."

He nodded and went to find us a drink. Meanwhile, I decided to go check up with Smurfie.

She smiled as I climbed the stairs onto the stage. "Hey girl! Like my song choice for ya?"

I smiled and nudged her. "Thanks for the shout out. Owl Lady? Really? Hope no one finds out that's me. I'll never hear the end of it."

"That's probably true." Smurfie pondered. "So what's up? Any requests?"

"What, I'm not allowed to just come up and say hi?"

"I've got a very important job. It's crucial that I stay very focus and have undivided attention for my task."

I blinked. "I think I lost you at 'job'."

Smurfie beamed. "I can be smart. Sometimes." She looked over her DJ stand (whatever you call it) and grinned wider. "I spy with my huge eye, someone in a black outfit-which is boring by the way-who's staring at my Owl Lady."

"Wha-" I looked over to where she's staring.

Fang.

"Correct!" Huh, I guess I said his name out loud.

"Guess I'll see you later, Smurfie." I started down the stairs.

"Wait." I looked back at her. She stared at me in the eyes. "You sure you have no song requests?"

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't resist a smile. That Smurfie...

"There you are!" Will came up, holding two cups. He handed me one. "I didn't see you where I left you. Then I saw you with Smurfie so I came over."

I smiled. He's pretty sweet. "Thanks. For the drink." I looked around and saw Fang still staring at me with those intense black eyes.

I mentally shook my head. "Uh, you wanna dance?"

"Sure." He took our drinks and set it aside.

Now we're dancing. And Fang's still staring.

I glared at him over Will's shoulders.

But he's still staring.

"So, you play soccer?"

I started, and looked up at Will. He's taller than me by a couple inches. "Yeah. Forward. Do you play?"

He nodded. "Centre mid-field. You know, Ace plays too. We should all play a game sometime. I know how much Astrea loves being in net."

"She does. Always taunting us. I think that's the only time she ever really gets all aggressive and-"

"May I cut in?"

Will and I looked over to see Fang. Will was shocked, but then, so am I.

I glared at him. "Um, no. You interrupted me. I was having a lovely chat with Will. Plus, I'm dancing with him too."

"I need to talk to you."

"And I don't want to."

"Just once?"

"No."

"Max, please-"

Will cut in. "Dude, she says no."

I could see in Fang's eyes that he desperately wanted to talk. Because it's Fang, I seem to not be able to hold back. Damn. "Okay."

Will looked over, surprised. "You said-"

"I know, I know. But I have to talk to him too. It'll be quick." I grabbed Fang's arm and dragged him away from Will. "I saw you."

"I know. I'm standing in front of you."

I rolled my eyes impatiently. "You know what I mean, doof. You and your lovely friends dropped by my place yesterday. Do you even wanna know what a grown lady's crying sounds like? Not good. And she's also my MOM. It hurt to hear her, okay? All thanks to all of you."

He looked shocked. "Max, I didn't think-"

"Yeah. You didn't." I snapped.

"Max, I really wouldn't have-"

"The thing is, Fang? _You did_. You-"

He grabbed my shoulders and stared at me head on. "Look. Listen for a sec. I didn't know it was your house. I thought it was Nudge's or something. If I knew it was your place, I would've_ never_ done that."

Wow. Talk about honesty.

"Three hundred dollars."

He blinked. "What?"

"It's three hundred dollars to hire a clean-up crew. Spray paint sticks really well." I stuck my hand out. "Do you have any?"

"No, but-"

"I'll be expecting it by tomorrow then." With that, I walked away.

I stopped and turned around. "I need to know one thing. Whose idea was it?"

Fang looked uncomfortable. He opened his mouth a few times, and then shut it tight after deciding not to say anything.

I frowned for a second, then full on glared. "Fine. Don't tell me. But it's probably Ella, right? I know her better than you do."

Finally, I spun around and stalked back over to where I last left Will.

* * *

_**my linebreak is a bum. couldnt really write much.**_

_**and not much fang this time.**_

_**anywhoo, hola humans! (unless you're a giraffe or something)**_

_**first of all, thanks for reading and thanks for the lovely reviews :)**_

_**second, whether or not you noticed, but i never described max's outfit. thats cuz i either plan on putting it in the next chapter, or i leave it to you fantabulous people to imagine. in case i do put it in the next chappie, do you guys have any suggestions for what you think max is wearing?**_

_**lastly... im going camping with my fam and wont be back til next tuesday. so, i wont be able to post anything for a couple days, or really use much of the internet at all. i'll still be writing (or at least thinking of) the next chappie if i find the time to. **_

_**so yeah. just a few days, no biggie, right? yeah.**_

_**til next time,**_

_**-zammielicious98**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**disclaimer: not mine. **_

* * *

**Fang**

Well, that went well...

Who the hell am I kidding? She hates me.

"Hey party pooper. What's with the long face? Not having fun?"

Ella sat across from me in the hallway. After my talk with Max, I just had to get out of the gym.

I shrugged. Should I tell her what Max said? "It's just hot in there." Guess not.

"Yeah, it is. I thought I could take a break, too."

Silence.

"Why."

Ella turned to me. "Why what?"

"Why do you hate her?"

"Who?"

I sighed, annoyed. "What did Max ever do to you? I asked you this already. But I want to know. What we did..." I trailed off.

"I told you already too. It's more than you need to know."

"I thought we were best friends."

"We are!"

"Then tell me."

Ella looked around. "She did something to Angel, okay? We're trying to keep her away from our group. Angel doesn't know, and she shouldn't."

I'm lost. "What?"

She just shook her head rapidly. "Never mind. I'm uh," Ella stood up. "I'm gonna go find Nudge."

She walked away, the clacking of her heels echoing down the empty hallway.

* * *

**Max**

_Bzz._

Gar. I'm sleeping.

_Bzz._

...

_BZZ._

Wow. Even my phone tries to wake me up. It's as if my phone's alive.

I got up very slowly and reached over to my bedside table and grabbed my phone.

Who the hell texts me at 10am on a Saturday morning? It should be illegal to even be awake at such a ridiculously early time. On a Saturday.

"Whaaaat." I said groggily, wiping the sleep out of my eyes.

"Morning, birdie!" said a familiar happy voice.

Astrea. Oh Astrea, why are you even awake?

"Whaaaat." Yeah, I know. What else am I suppose to say? I'm still pretty much asleep.

Astrea laughed. "Not much of an early riser? Surprising for a little birdie like you." She teased.

I mumbled something even I didn't really understand.

I could practically hear her rolling her eyes. "Anyway, Smurfie's got some idea going through her head. Don't ask what it's about. I don't even know. So yeah, I was checking up on you to see if you're up for some coffee. And it sounds like you might need some."

"Hm," I pondered this for a few moments. "Eh, what the beluga. I'll see you in ten."

"Alright. See ya." She hung up

I clicked my phone shut and stared at the time blaring out at me. Five after ten in the morning. I pouted. It's still too early.

Life stinks.

I got up lazily-well, more like rolled of my bed-and threw on whatever I could find and went downstairs. I heard my mom's soft snores through her bedroom door as I passed by. Lucky her.

By the time I got to the kitchen, my stomach was screaming at me. I checked the fridge, but there didn't seem to be much food that doesn't require any sort of cooking. I'm not much of a cooking person, to say the least. You really don't want to know what happened to the poor egg I tried to fry once upon a time ago.

A sudden splash of water hit the kitchen window. The sprinkler is definitely off, last time I checked. Mom's asleep, too. So what in the pickle is-

Pounds of droplets hit against the window again.

Frowning, I closed the fridge and walked over to my front door. I slowly opened it, hoping water wouldn't spray by the door, when I saw something. Er, someone. Someone who managed to make my jaw drop ten feet under.

"What the mushy noodles are you doing here?" I demanded.

Said person looked over and quirked an eyebrow. "Mushy noodles? Haven't heard that before."

"What are you doing?" I enunciated.

"What does it look like?"

I rolled my eyes impatiently. "Oh, I don't know. Splashing water everywhere with a hose? While holding an overly wet sponge? Are you posing for some magazine? Ooh, is it for Housewives Weekly? I'm impressed."

Fang smirked. "Sorry to disappoint, but no cameras around here." He looked at me seriously for a moment. "I'm cleaning."

"Amazing. Never seen guys clean before." I couldn't help it.

"I'm serious Max. This," he gestured at the spray painted, toilet paper covered, silly stringed building known as my house-with a bit of a wince-"Was partly my fault. So I'm cleaning your house."

My eyes popped out. Is this kid serious? "Are you serious?"

"Well, I'm not holding a hose and sponge for nothing."

Unbelievable. I can't believe- I can't believe it. "You're serious." I said, still shell-shocked.

"I'm here, aren't I? Touch me all you want to prove it." He grinned like the idiot he is.

"Oh shut it," I said, flushed. Muttering, "Pervy idiots" and whatever else came to mind, that is not so pleasant, I went up to Fang and punched him.

He rubbed his arm. "Ow?"

I shrugged. "You said I could touch you. I did, by punching you. You're welcome by the way." I picked up another sponge that floated inside a bucket full of foam at his feet. "I know spray paint doesn't get off that easily. We got a lot of work to do."

I walked over to one of the windows that were spray painted, and started to scrub at the red marks. I could feel Fang's gaze on my back, weighing like an obese elephant. "Are you sure you're not posing for anyone? You standing there like a duck is making me think otherwise."

Fang snorted, but came over by another window and started wiping at it as well.

I smiled to myself. This is sweet. To think he came this early in the morning-to me, at least-to clean the mess he was a part of making? I wouldn't have thought Fang Reynolds would be up to something this _nice_. It was-

I gasped as my back suddenly felt wet, my now dripping hair sticking to the back of my neck.

Oh no, he _didn't_.

I spun around to see Fang's twinkling black eyes staring at me from behind a hose. "Surprise." he said, smirking.

Shaking my head slowly, the corner of my lips twitched. I returned a smirk, before I quickly grabbed the bucket of soapy water and flung it at Fang.

Fang was caught in surprise, dropping the hose and spluttering soapy water out of his mouth. He wiped his face, then stared at me.

We stood staring at each other, both of us dripping wet.

Fang suddenly burst out a huge smile. A real, genuine smile.

I smiled back, startled by the trueness of his smile.

And of course, before I knew it, he was holding the hose again, pointed straight at me.

This kid is seriously asking for a death wish.

"Fang!" I laughed.

He was smirking, his eyes shining like the real smile he gave me just a few seconds ago.

We ran around, goofing around like little kids. We really did get around to cleaning my house, still spraying each other randomly. It took a long time before the house was clear of any traces of spray paint, toilet paper, or silly string, but we did it. It was fun too.

My phone rang. I reached into my pocket, despite my wet hands, and answered. "Yeah?"

"Max?" Astrea. Crap.

My mouth formed an O. "I forgot. Oops?"

"Really?" She chuckled. "It's cool; I almost did too, actually. I got there almost half an hour later, but you weren't there, so I assumed you left."

"Oh." I laughed. "I guess I really did need that coffee."

Fang made a random funny face, making me laugh harder. "Stop it!" I whispered.

"Obviously. Anyways, you're probably busy. Something must've come up." She paused. "Like a certain dark knight?" I could hear the smugness in her voice.

I rolled my eyes, which was wasted since she can't see me. "Whatever."

"Bye Maxie! Have fun!" And she hung up, but not before I heard a faint voice call out, "And make sure you use protection!" I heard a slap and an 'Ow' after.

I'm going to have to thank Astrea for that later.

Fang cocked his head to the side.

"Astrea. I was supposed to meet her. It's fine now."

He nodded. How is it that he can talk a lot sometimes, and then suddenly turn into Mr. I-no-speak?

With all this nodding and tilting of heads and raising of eyebrows, I'm going to assume he's part dog.

* * *

**Fang**

Max and I cleaned up the sponges and the scraps of toilet paper left over.

I had a lot of fun cleaning; something you don't hear people say very often. Max's help definitely made it easy and fun, and not dreadful, like I thought it would. I would've done it myself anyways, no matter how long it would take or how boring it would be.

But having her with me was definitely more than I could ask for.

She smiled at me then, blushing lightly in the way only Max can do. It's so hard to stay away from her. I would do just about anything to hang with her and hold her and kiss her without anyone telling me not to.

I got to find out what's up with my friends. Ella clearly said it's not just her dad. Then what? What could Max have done to Angel that is so bad? I don't see why they all had to shun her for it.

"I owe you a race, remember?"

I looked up at Max. From down on the ground, her blonde hair glowed from the sun.

"Wait, what?" Race? A race with Max? A- "Oh yeah."

Max shook her head mockingly. "Come on, Reynolds. Show me what you got. Unless, of course, you're more of a wimp than I thought." Her eyes sparkled playfully.

I stood up, smirking. "Bring it, Ride."

She turned toward the streets, looking over at me. "Ready,"

"Set," I said, getting in position.

We looked at each other. "Go!"

With that, we dashed down the street, darting past houses and trees and just about everything.

Max was fast. I knew that from our little soccer match. A full-on race, however, was different. She is much faster without a soccer ball in the way.

I'm a pretty fast runner too, but I'll admit, it's not a 'piece of cake', trying to stay right by Max.

I may be sweating and breathing hard and running my ass off, but you know what?

I'm enjoying every second of it.

* * *

**Max**

"Truce?"

I was just stretching by the bleachers in the gym, getting ready for our first day of cross-country practice, when a voice popped up in front of me.

In her little black shorts, loose gym shirt, and green and white Puma sneakers, stands Ella. Her hand was outstretched toward me. "So?"

I glared in reply. "Really, Ells?" I stood up, looking down at her. She's a few inches shorter than me, so I was basically towering over her. Good. "Wanna explain your little artwork for me first? Toilet paper never gets old, does it?"

Ella sighed. "It was just a joke, Max. Come on, we used to do that stuff all the time when we were kids!"

A _joke_? A joke my ass. Hell with it, that was not just a _joke_. Sure, we did this kind of stuff before, but never to each other, and never this big. It was always the small, harmless little pranks. The ever cliché shampoo switched with bleach, milk dyed with food colouring, poking holes in other peoples Styrofoam cups, and so on. Simple little pranks.

I started to walk up the bleachers, Ella following. "That is some joke then, Ella."

I thought I saw something flash in her eyes when I glanced at her, but it was gone before I could double check. "It was supposed to be funny!"

"I'm not laughing."

"Max," Ella pleaded, and then paused. "I know what you did to Angel.

That made me freeze. I didn't say anything; Ella kept going. "I saw you that weekend. With Dylan. He kissed you."

"Yes. He did." I said stiffly.

"He was dating Angel, too."

"I know." I'm not liking where this is going.

"How could you make out with Dylan when-"

I raised my hand. "Hold it. I did _not_ 'make out' with him. It was just one kiss. I only hugged him before that, which is fine 'cause we're _friends_, but then he kissed me. _He_ kissed _me_."

Ella crossed her arms. "Don't bother lie. You returned the kiss."

"I-" I started. "Fine. But I didn't know-"

"Yeah. You did." she said accusingly.

"I forgot! Okay? We're not perfect angels here."

Ella looked smug. "You could try harder."

I sighed raggedly. "You and Maya."

She froze. "What about my sister?"

"You know what."

Ella's parents, about a month before I left three years ago, almost lost their jobs. They tried to work harder to keep their job. Their money was already starting to slowly drop. Ella and her sister, Maya, wanted to help, so they stole a great deal of money and put it in their parents' bank.

Nobody ever found out, and her family was back up. Mr. and Mrs. Martinez managed to keep their jobs. Ella and Maya decided to keep it a secret, not wanting any more trouble for their family. Ella told me though. I was her best friend.

Standing right in front of me now, I could see Ella's eyes distant. She shook it off and stared at me. "I know something about you, and you know something about me."

"Indeed we do." I tilted my head. "Guess this is a truce."

She smiled. "A secret for a secret." Her hand stretched out to me again.

This time I took it. "Deal."

"And you better not tell _anyone_, or you're dead meat." Ella said, staring hard at me.

The whistle blew, signaling for everyone to come over to start. "Same goes for you." I said, before running down the bleachers.

* * *

_**ahh. thanks to your amazingly energy boosting reviews, i decided to post another chappie before im off to the woods! **_

_**this chappie's a bit shorter than the other three, but i reeaallyyy wanted to post another chappie for you guys!**_

_**see what your reviews do to me? only one day, and i post another chappie. **_

_**so THANK YOU!**_

_**and KEEP REVIEWING! **_

_**with lots of smileys :)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))),**_

_**-zammielicious98**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Fang**

"OMG Fangy! What do you-"

I ignored Brigid Whateverherlastname. Her voice is way to high and squeaky, she says 'OMG' way too much, and hell, she calls me FANGY. I don't even know what I'm doing with her.

After I left Max's, I was a good block away from her place, but Ella caught me. She knows that the only person I know of is Max. She still doesn't know that I've really talked to her. Still, Max is the only one who lives in the small rental blocks that we all know about.

Ella questioned me; I avoided answering. She seems intent on keeping me away from Max.

She's right. I have to stay away from Max. Whatever the problem is with them, my friends don't like it. So I need to stay clear.

Which is why I'm sitting here with Brigid at Nudge's party.

"Fangy? Are you even listening?"

"Yeah." I answered, bored.

"Great! So you know how that-"

Ignoring, once again.

A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the couch and Brigid. "Fang! Come!" Nudge said, sounding urgent, but I doubt anything's actually wrong.

Once we got far away from Brigid, she let go of my arm. "You can thank me later." Nudge walked away and disappeared through the crowd.

Uh, thanks?

I grabbed a drink off a table and took a sip, my thoughts wandering to a certain blonde girl.

No. Don't think about her.

I took another angry sip. My mind was still hung up on Max.

Slamming the cup down on the table, I stormed back to Brigid.

**Max**

"Move those feet, Astrea!" Smurfie called over her shoulder, laughing.

I laughed as well. "Just a bit more-"

I heard a thump. Smurfie and I turned around. On the path laid Astrea, panting harder than an over excited dog. "I can't. Go on. Any-," she panted "-more!"

Shaking my head, I lifted Astrea off the ground and sat down next to her, Smurfie standing behind me. "Remind me again why you're helping me train for cross-country," I looked at her skeptically. "If you can barely run."

"I don't know." She shrugged. "This is why," Astrea's panting slowed down. "I'm goalie in soccer."

I rolled my eyes playfully. "I figured."

We came to the big neighbourhood park. There's a basketball court, a tennis court, a playground set, and of course, a soccer field. I elbowed Astrea. "Get in net. Might as well do something you _can_ do."

Happily, she got up and ran for the net.

"Yes! Soccer, for the win!" Smurfie cheered and raced off after Astrea. It wasn't until I ran over to the net that I realized we didn't have a soccer ball.

"Um, guys-"

"Max!" A familiar male voice called behind me.

I turned to see Will, Ace, and a couple other guys I didn't recognize, run over to us.

Smurfie jumped around, waving frantically.

The guys came, holding a soccer ball. Sweet. "We need a ball." I said to Will.

Will grinned. "Then you're stuck playing with us."

"I dunno, are you guys good enough? We are pretty hardcore soccer players." I teased.

He mock gasped. "Better step up our game then." Will turned to Ace and the guys. "She's on my team."

"Fine then." Ace said over-dramatically. "Smurfie and I are forwards." He high-fived Smurfie, who came to stand beside him.

Astrea rolled her eyes. "Goodness. No need to fight over us lovely ladies. Now are we playing or what?"

A chorus of 'Yar!' rang through. We split into teams and played around.

I have no idea how long we played for. In the end, we don't even know who won; we lost track.

Everyone's all sweaty, but we're all too busy laughing and enjoying ourselves to really care. Ace announced that we should all go for ice cream as a treat. We all headed over, loudly, to Cherry Top. Its just a couple blocks down from the park; a good walking distance.

Smurfie decided to play soldier with some of the other guys, leading a march down the street. Ace insisted he walk with Astrea. Even after the dance, those two are still the same. Ace is persistent and Astrea pretends she couldn't care less. It's rather amusing.

I walked with Will. He and I became pretty good friends after the dance.

"So, uh, Max," Will ask, looking a little nervous.

"Yeah? You okay?" I frowned a bit.

Will nodded. "Yeah. I was just wondering if you-" He took a deep breath. "Would you ever go out with me?"

I stopped walking. Is he...? "Are you asking me out?"

Will looked _really_ uncomfortable; his cheeks completely flushed.

He looks so cute, blushing like that. Will's a really nice and cool guy, too. It would be a shame to say no.

Fang flashed through my mind.

I mentally shook my mind. I can never go out with Fang. Not that I like him to begin with. Either way, he's a big no-no.

"Sure." I said.

Will blinked. "For real?"

I nodded. He could be good for me. I need a nice, trustable guy. Not one that'll mess with me. No games, no evil pranks.

I felt a warm presence in my hand. Looking down, I saw Will's hand covering mine.

I squeezed his hand and smiled. He smiled a bright smile, squeezing his hand back.

Of course, we got into a little hand-squeezing war, trying to see who can squeeze the other person's hand the hardest.

Will. _My boyfriend_.

I grinned.

**Fang**

After an agonizing twenty minutes or so of Brigid's ramble, Dylan came and dragged me away.

"Dude, Brigid? Really?"

I shrugged.

"Whatever. Let's just go find the-"

Ella, Nudge, and Angel came crashing through the kitchen, tied up together. They toppled over, laughing.

Dylan looked at me, and then ran over to untie them. "What are you three doing? You drunk?"

Nudge shook her head. "No. Can't some girls just have some fun?"

"By tying yourselves up?" Dylan asked, incredulously.

Ella nodded. "Pretty much."

Dylan just shook his head. "Man, this rope is tight." He looked up at me. "Get down here and help me untie this thing."

Angel piped up. "I tied it! The Girl Scout stuff sure paid off." She looked over at the girls. "Remember that one time we tied up the boys at camp?

"They woke up all close and snug." Nudge smirked. "How could I forget? It was my idea."

Ella coughed. "You mean mine."

"Choosing to tie the boys was my idea." Nudge shrugged it off.

"I remember Max tied them." Angel said quietly.

Nudge and Ella froze. Dylan and I looked over at Angel. Nobody ever mentioned Max.

Angel looked wistfully into the distance. "She was the best with knots. Plus, she's the one who stacked them up before she tied them together tightly."

Nudge and Ella looked down, obviously remembering.

"It really sucks for her," Angel continued. "Her dad's stuck hiding out with my uncle and-"

"_What?_" Nudge, Ella, Dylan, and even me, yelled.

Angel's eyes widened. "I-I mean, her dad's stuck out there somewhere, and-"

"You know where her dad is?" Nudge urged, avoiding saying Max's name.

"Uh," Angel looked like she really regretted opening her mouth. "It's nothing guys. Just rumours." She looked around. "Let's dance!"

Dylan released the rope, letting it fall. Angel dashed into the throng of people.

We all stared at each other.

What the hell was that all about?

**Max**

Will was nice enough to walk me home. I insisted he didn't have to, but he said he wouldn't be a very good boyfriend then.

See what I mean? Major niceness.

I walked into the kitchen to find Mom sitting there by herself, a cup of cold coffee on the table, dazing into nowhere.

"Mom?"

Mom looked up, startled. "Oh, honey, you're home. I didn't notice," she trailed off.

"You need a life."

"What?" Mom seemed to have zoned out again, but snapped back from what I said.

"I mean, you need to go and have some fun. Whatever it is adults do, you need to do it. Or something. You just keep sitting here sulking. That's not the mom I know." I said softly, sitting across from her.

She looked down at her cup of coffee. "You're right," she said quietly. Mom looked up at me and smiled. A small one, but a smile is a smile. "You're right," she said again, louder this time. "Thank you, Max."

I smiled one last smile, stood up, and walked to my room.

I collapsed onto my bed. If I'm being completely honest with myself, I have no idea where that little Yoda advice came from. Okay, okay, it's definitely not Yoda worthy, but its close enough. To me, at least.


	6. Chapter 6

**Max**

"This was not what I meant." I said irritably, my arms crossed.

I'm currently standing in front of my dearest mother, kind of sort of really pissed with what she has planned for tonight.

"Please, Max? I just wanted to try it out, you know?" Mom pleaded.

"For how long have you been...,"

She shrugged. "A few days after you told me to."

"That's not what I meant!" I repeated, louder.

Okay, so a week ago, I tell my depressed mom to get a life. Now? She has a boyfriend.

"Max," she started.

I sighed. "Let me think it over. It's tonight, right? Give me the day to think. Plus, I'm meeting Will."

Mom smiled. She seems to like Will. "Thank you, Max."

"Hey," I paused at the door. "I never agreed to it, yet."

I left the house, jogging down the street. She can be a pain, but...

Your welcome, Mom.

* * *

**Fang**

Ow. "Watch it." I said, rubbing my head.

The Demented Duo just cackled away. They decided it would be fun to peg me with my own stuff to see how much I'll say something to them. They still haven't heard more than three words from me so far.

Iggy lifted a chair. I shot Dylan a look, which he thankfully understood. "Ig, don't bother. You're just going to piss Fang off more."

"But that's the point!" Iggy complained.

Dylan sighed. "We need to do something today. Go somewhere."

"Where?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Crash a party?"

Iggy looked thoughtful, while Gazzy asked, "Do Ashers party?"

"They're not aliens." I said, a bit defensively. It's true, though. They're not. Like Max.

"Oh yeah," Gazzy tilted his head. "We should crash one of their parties."

"But not today." Iggy said. He looked at Gazzy and they shared a look. Grinning, they turned to us. "ARCADE TIME!"

"For a second, I was afraid they'd yell 'Adventure Time!'" Dylan said under his breath to me. I smirked.

Gazzy skipped around my room. "We have all weekend without the girls. Guy time at the arcade is required." He said.

Iggy nodded. "Besides, we need an arcade champ this year."

"You're saying that 'cause you just want to beat us all again."

"No," Iggy drawled out.

Dylan looked at me. I shrugged. It's better than sitting around my room, watching my stuff get destroyed and thrown at me.

Iggy and Gazzy cheered and charged out the door, Dylan and I following behind.

* * *

**Max**

"Do want some more mashed potatoes, Max?" Roland asked.

I shook my head. Although I normally can eat more food than necessary, I seemed to have lost my appetite. Something that doesn't happen very often. Or at all, really.

Note to self: Stay away from potatoes for at least a year.

Roland chuckled. "Full already? Hope you have some room for dessert!"

"Oh, she always does," Mom smiled.

He smiled back at Mom. Gag. "Does anyone else want some more mashed potatoes?"

"I'll take some, sir," Will said, lifting his plate. "You got to show me your recipe some day. I didn't think there's a special way to make mashed potatoes. I thought you just mashed them."

Roland guffawed, scooping some potatoes onto Will's plate. "That's still a secret I intend to keep."

"Darn."

I shot Will a look while Roland and Mom laughed. "Not really helping." I whispered.

"Sorry. It's hard to hold back my natural charm." Will grinned.

"What charm?"

"Ha-ha. This one," He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.

I blushed and stood up. Roland and Mom looked at me. "Just going to start cleaning the dishes." I picked up my plate and walked over to the kitchen before they can stop me.

"I'll help!" Will grabbed his plate and followed me.

I slammed my plate into the sink, before realizing that I could've broken the plate. Oops. At least it still lives.

Will placed his nicely. "Not having much fun, are you?"

I snorted. "How'd you guess?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the almost murder of an innocent plate."

"Really. You're smarter than I thought." I grabbed the dish soap and poured a giant blob into the sink. "Though technically it's considered plate-slaughter since it's not dead."

"It's still cruel to all plates." Will placed his hand on my shoulder. "But seriously. Are you okay?"

I sighed and put down the dish soap before I flooded the kitchen with bubbles. "I don't know. I guess not."

"Is it Roland?"

"No. Yes. Well," I shook my head. "He seems like a nice guy and all, not that I really care, but..." I trailed off.

"He's dating your mom." He finished.

"Yeah." I turned on the tap, letting the water run. I groaned and hit my head on the wall, repeatedly, since it seems everyone does that when they're pissed.

Will pulled me away from the wall, turning me around to face him. "Hey, look. You're just freaking out. Worried because he could be you're stepdad."

My eyes widened. "Oh, _hell _no." Sure I may not be on good terms with dear daddy, but that doesn't mean I want a replacement. Not now, not ever. "Over my dead body, Will. Hell. No."

"Well, I hope I don't have to see your dead body anytime soon."

I shoved him, a ghost of a smile appearing on my face.

Mom came through the kitchen then, putting her plates in the sink. She frowned when she saw the tap still on. Oops. Again. "Max, turn of the tap if you're not using it, okay?"

I nodded half-heartedly.

"Max," She tilted her head. "What do you think of Roland?"

Hm. What do I think of Roland ter Borcht? I don't know him enough to have much of an opinion, besides the fact that he's German, a guy, and dating my Mom.

"Well," I started, tapping my chin thoughtfully, even though I don't think it does anything to help. "He seems... Nice." Eh, it's the best I could think of.

Mom sighed. "You just need to get used to him. Hopefully soon, too. We'll be seeing him more."

My stomach dropped down to my toes. I involuntarily groaned.

Mom shot me a stern look that mothers tend to give. "Just give him a try." For me, her eyes seemed to say.

I stood there for a second. Then I gestured for her to get back to Roland. "Go." I said resignedly.

She smiled, her eyes twinkling. She walked out of the kitchen and I heard chattering. I wonder what adults talk about.

"That went well."

I spun around, almost surprised to see Will. I kind of, maybe, sort of, really, forgot that he's still standing behind me.

"Ha, yeah," I leaned into him. "Thanks. For coming. I don't think I would've survived this thing alone."

"No, you wouldn't have."

I elbowed him, smiling. Will chuckled. "You would've destroyed the house, too, if I wasn't here for you to elbow your elbow off."

I raised a brow. "Elbow my elbow off?" I shook my head, laughing.

What would I do without you, Will?

* * *

**Fang**

"GO-KARTING TIME!"

I groaned, wiping my eyes. Looking at the clock, it blinked the despicably early time.

"7:30am? Seriously?"

Iggy grinned. "The go-kart track opens at 8am! We're getting there right when it opens!"

I closed my eyes. "You're crazy."

"They are. Might as well get up since you're awake, though." Dylan said, strolling into my room. I'm not surprised that he's awake. He's an early riser, and plus, he's a sucker for go-carting.

Rolling my eyes, I tumbled out of bed. "Get out. I'm changing."

Iggy smirked and left the room, Dylan trailing behind. Gazzy seemed to be-

"Breakfast, Fang!"

Gazzy... "Don't wake the house."

"No promises!" A crash sounded from downstairs. What the hell is he up to?

I quickly grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and ran downstairs. It seems that Gazzy managed to cook up some eggs, despite the fact that half the carton of eggs are on the wall, the ceiling, and one on his shoulder.

I really don't want to know what happened.

Gazzy opened his mouth. I raised my hand. "Don't." I reached out and grabbed the plate of eggs and stuffed it down. A bit too salty, but not terrible. "Done."

Iggy whooped while Gazzy lead a conga line out the door; the exploded egg still sitting on his shoulder.

I shook my head. This is what happens when the girls aren't here. Well, it happens anyways. So never mind that.

The go-kart track is a twenty minute drive from my place. The Twins' dad drove us over, never asking why we want to go there this early in the morning.

By the time we got there, the place was open. The Twins' dad covered everything for us and told us to go choose a cart and get ready.

We all grinned, including me, and raced off. Somehow, we managed to all get a different coloured go-kart.

I forgot how exciting go-carting can be. We were all at the start. The guys and I always race at the beginning.

Iggy called out from his kart. "Ready."

"Set," Gazzy said.

Dylan and I looked at each other. "Go!"

Off we went, literally leaving a cloud of dust.

I couldn't help myself. I hollered along with everyone else. This is probably one of the only things that can get me un-muted.

We went on like that, carting around, crashing into each other on purpose, the sound of the kart screeching along the track. The whole world is drowned out.

In the end, Iggy crashed into Gazzy, who crashed into Dylan, who crashed into me. We all skidded off track, and only Gazzy ended up flipping over.

"Let's do that again!" Gazzy yelled from his upside-down kart.

The Twins' dad came over, along with a worker, and helped Gazzy out of his kart. We all got out, and decided to go eat somewhere. Come on, we're teenage boys. We need food 24/7.

Sitting here at McDonalds, eating our dose of greasy food, I looked outside and saw Max and Will.

Damn. Will is one lucky bastard.

"Who is that kid?" Gazzy pointed at Will.

"Will something." Dylan muttered, staring at his fries.

I glanced at him. He seemed to have lost some of his adrenaline.

Shrugging, I looked back out the window. Max was laughing at something Will said. A bit of anger rose up in me. Why does WILL get to make her laugh and hang out with her? And nobody cares? I can't even _talk_ to her without getting glared at.

It sucks. It really sucks.

* * *

**Max**

"Where are we going?" I asked Will, who was dragging me off to somewhere I've never been to before. In all the years I've lived in this place, I've never been up in the hillside.

"It's a surprise!" Will glanced back at me over his shoulder. Seeing my expression, he added, "You'll like it, don't worry."

I hate surprises. But since it's Will...

"We're here." I looked around to see some guys and a few girls standing around, a bunch of cars scattered around them.

Taking in the scene, I said, "Will? What in the name of-"

"Hey Will! Got your car ready!" Some guy I don't know called over. Actually, I think I've seen him around school.

"Great!" Will called back. He smirked at me. "Have you ever gone drag racing?"

I blinked in surprise. "What? Drag racing? I-" I stopped. Looking around again, it started to make sense. A smile slowly appeared on my face. "You're amazing."

Will laughed. "A little slow there, Max? We'll have to fix that. Come on," He walked me over to some cars. "I'm racing you."

My eyes lit up. "You're SO on."

Some people came over and helped us get ready. A girl stood in between us, holding two ragged old flags. She looked familiar, too. I think she's in my English class.

"Ready," The girl's eyes sparkled. "Set," She raised the flags above her head. "Go!" The flags swooped down, just as Will and I raced off.

Oh my marshmallow. You don't even know how exhilarating this is. Adrenaline filled my veins, my heart pumping hard. I leaned in, as if it would do anything.

I'll admit, this is the first time I ever drag raced. But I'm always up for a challenge. Will, first place is mine.

* * *

"Whoo!" I did a little happy dance. I beat Will for the second time. We raced a couple times now, some people joining us each time. Sure, Will beat me a bit more than I beat him, but he has experience. So I'm still pretty pumped for my victory.

Will smiled, taking a sip of water. "Bet you can't beat me a third time."

I stopped dancing and raised a brow. "Is that a challenge?"

"Yes. If you choose to accept."

I smirked. "Challenge accepted." We hopped into our cars again. A different girl came up and gave us our start.

It was only a couple seconds after our start, when I heard a very familiar voice say, "Might want to speed it up. He's going to beat you."

I almost almost _almost_ slammed on the brakes-which would be very bad. Calming down a bit, I yelled, "What the hell?" Okay, maybe I'm not that calmed down.

"Tsk tsk, Maxie. You nearly killed us."

"And whose fault would that be?" I scowled through the rear view mirror at Fang, whose sitting oh-so casually in the backseat.

Fang tapped his chin. "Yours."

I growled, stepping on the pedal harder, as if speeding up will let me get far away from Fang.

"Hey, you're catching up."

He's right. Looking out the window, I can see Will's car just a bit in front of me.

There's still a bit of the race to go. I skidded and turned and sped up in silence. But that didn't stop Fang from making noises. Cheering when I catch up to Will-or even pass him for a while, booing when Will got ahead, and slow clapping whenever I skidded around a turn. For a boy who doesn't say much, that sure doesn't stop him from being loud.

The sad thing? I can't resist smiling the whole time. It's obvious that he's flirting with me.

It's the last few metres away from the finish line. I can see the waving flag and little dots of people jumping and waving.

Will drove right beside me. He looked through the window and waved at me, smirking. I gave a wave back, hopefully not looking guilty.

We were drawing closer and closer to the finish line. Behind me, Fang continued to make noises; at first cheering my name, then randomly making animal noises and trying to get me to guess them. Let me tell you, he is not good at making animal noises. Especially frogs, and ducks, and cows, and pretty much every other animal, actually.

Just as we were on our last few seconds of the race, I made a split second decision. I slowed the pedal and Will drove ahead of me. He crossed the line. He won.

I let him win.

I felt I owed it to him. I flirted with another guy.

Will got out of his car while the crowd cheered. I went over to him. He smiled. "I win again."

"You did." I smiled, swallowing back the guilty lump in my throat.

He opened his arms and I walked into him, feeling the warmth of his embrace. The crowd awed and cheered. "Nice race, Max."

"You too." Over his shoulder, I could see Fang standing at the back of the crowd, smirking. He gave me a little wave.

I smiled back, mentally kicking myself in the ass.

Hugging one guy, smiling over the shoulder at another.

This is _so_ not me. What the hell.

* * *

_**line breaks are stupid.**_

_**disclaimer: not mine. **_

_**okaaaaaayyyyyyyy so i am back! camping was fun but... bugs. nasty little things, yknow?**_

_**so, i ended up posting 2 chappies last time! i couldnt put any linebreaks or a/n or watever cuz the computer was being stupid. or, i guess the website. **_

_**anyways, i should have another chappie up soon! but you wont get it unless i get my dose of heartwarming reviews. mmkay?**_

_**and thanks to those who did! kudos to you! i may not get around to answering or commenting back to you guys, but know that im reading your lovely reviews and smiling and wanting to just hug the life outta you people :) **_

_**okay, maybe that sounded a liiiiiittle creepy since it would be very awks if some random girl came up to you and hugged you.. lol.**_

_****__**REVIEW sil-vous plait! please!**_

_**-zammielicious**_

_**;)**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**hi! kay so its been a few days. nice little break. Writer's block is never fun.**_

_**But now, here is the next chappie!**_

_**Enjoy :) **_

_**Disclaimer: i'm not smart enough to think of an epic name like Maximum Ride, so, yeah, its obviously not mine.**_

* * *

**Fang**

"Happy almost Halloween!" Ella said, happily.

"Our favourite time of year." Nudge added, walking up to us.

Angel skipped over, clinging onto Dylan's arm. "What should we dress up as?" She turned to Nudge. "Wait, we're going to you're party and then the amusement park? Or the other way around?"

"Party's the day before Halloween 'cause the amusement park is open on Halloween night. And we are staying until midnight again." Nudge announced.

The girls started chattering about what they should dress up as. I stopped dressing up a long time ago, but lots of people here do it for the sake of Halloween. I said this before and I'll say it again: our school loves spirit. Very big deal.

"Fang, don't tell me you're not dressing up again." Ella said.

Nudge and Angel nodded. Dylan cocked his head. "What do you want him to dress as?" he asked curiously.

"Hm..." The girls pondered this while the Impossibly Idiotic Twins came over.

"Who wants to hear what we're being this Halloween?" Gazzy asked, excitedly.

We all looked at the them. Gazzy looked over at Iggy, then said, "Adventure Time!" before cracking up.

"Dylan gave us the idea." Iggy said.

I looked at Dylan. "Hey, that was when I thought I heard them say that, remember?" he said defensively. I do remember though. Such a fun weekend.

Gazzy turned to me. "You can join us if you want. It's not like you're dressing up again, are you?"

"Most likely not," Ella cut in. "But he will this year. No matter how ridiculous he looks."

I glared. "Put me in pink and you'll die."

Ella grinned. "I didn't think of that... Thanks for the idea!"

Groaning, I turned to Dylan. "And you?"

He shrugged. "Whatever Angel puts me in. Guess we're both stuck."

"No shit."

Nudge suddenly jumped and squealed. "I know! Fang, you're going to be the Dark Knight!" She clapped. "I know, I know, it's ridiculously cheesy, but it doesn't look like you're gonna wear anything else."

They all laughed and cheered. Well. I guess I have no choice but to be Batman this year. Joy.

"OMG. Nudge? I just remembered what we decided to do this year." Ella exclaimed.

Nudge gestured her to spit it out.

"Black and white swans! From the movie!"

"Oh yeah! So you're the black swan and I'm the white swan, right?"

"Totally!"

Ella and Nudge laughed and high fived.

Angel smiled and looked up at Dylan. "Wanna be my huntsman?"

Dylan grinned. "Anything for you, my princess." Angel giggled.

Okay. What's with this year's theme? Movie characters? Last year we-they-were all food. The year before they chose paranormal creatures.

I guess I shouldn't complain. I could be forced into a Yogi Bear costume or dress like Katy Perry.

"What's this year's ultimate prank?" Dylan asked.

Every Halloween, we do some freaky prank, or prank_s_, obviously Halloween related. It's done at the amusement park-the one that opens only on Halloween during off-season.

"Nothing in mind," Nudge said. "Yet."

Iggy and Gazzy looked at each other, Angel leaned against Dylan, who looked into the distance, while I stood here, thinking.

"What if," Ella said after a couple of moments. "We rig one of the rides?"

We all looked at each other. The Twins grinned wickedly. Nudge's eyes sparkled. Dylan and I smirked.

This will be one hell of a Halloween.

* * *

**Max**

"Guess what I'm gonna be!" Smurfie leaped onto the lunch table bench.

"I don't know. A Smurf?" I said sarcastically.

Smurfie stopped moving. "How'd you know?"

I paused. "You're serious?"

"Oh, she's beyond serious." Astrea slid onto the bench. "She wouldn't stop squealing about it all morning. Be glad you don't have her the first two periods."

"Hey!" Smurfie pouted. "It's a great idea!"

Astrea rolled her eyes. "How 'bout you?" she asked, turning to me.

"What?"

"What are you this Halloween?"

I choked on my Coke. "You're not serious too, are you? I'm not dressing up. That's ridiculous."

"Where's the fun in that? Dressing up is the whole point of Halloween!" Smurfie exclaimed.

"I don't think that's the whole point, but dressing up is definitely fun! Besides, you're gonna need to wear something to the park."

Oh yeah. The annual Haunted Halloween Night at the amusement park in town. "The Haunted Night? That's lame."

"You're going."

"In your dreams."

"Will's gonna be there." Astrea smirked.

I smirked back. "No."

"We're dragging you"

"Good luck with that." I snorted.

Well, I guess I really didn't need to say that. Because by the end of the day...

"Do I look like an old lady who would wear over-sparkly clothes that are ridiculously too small?"

I'm standing in front of a full length mirror, wearing the shortest little thing ever. It's apparently some Lady Barbie (Barba? Baba?) costume. "I don't even know who this Lady Barf is."

Smurfie looked at me, tapping her chin. "Odd.. Very odd.."

Astrea sighed. "It's Lady Gaga, genius." She flipped through some other costumes, grabbed one, and walked over to me. "Try this."

Rolling my eyes, I walked back into my little changeroom. "Goodbye Lady Baga." I muttered.

"It's Lady Gaga!" Astrea called.

Whatever. Goodbye Lady 'Gaga'. I was close enough.

Stepping out, I looked at the mirror. I tilted my head back and forth, frowning. Hm. This isn't as bad as the Lady What'sherface's costume. "Smurfie? Scale of one to ten on the odd scale."

"Five." She skipped over from beside Astrea. "No, three. It looks better closer up. Or maybe a one point seven. Or-"

"Thanks for that lovely observation, Smurfie. Astrea? How odd is this?"

Astrea walked over and smiled. "Best thing so far."

"Phew!" I fake wiped my forehead. But I seriously am relieved. I just tried on the weirdest, most ridiculous costumes ever. "Can we eat now?" And I'm hungry.

"Yeah, we can-" Astrea's cut of by Smurfie and I's cheering. I threw myself back into the changeroom.

Before we know it, we're sitting in the food court; the best place in the entire mall.

"On the count of three." Astrea looked at both me and Smurfie. "Three!"

Not really a count of three, but it works for me.

"Anbfkfocugvbendjebvendjdah!"

That's all you would hear from me and Smurfie's epic food eating contest. We both ordered the biggest burger, fries, and drink. Astrea's calmly eating her food while timing us.

Right now, we're both starting our fries. Om nom nom nom nom nom no-

"Ew? Are you serious?"

Smurfie and I both paused for a second to see who said that. Though I would recognize that voice anywhere.

I swallowed. "Nudge. Nice of you to drop by. Want some?" I stuck out my container of fries.

Nudge scrunched her nose. "Um, no."

Shrugging, I popped another one in my mouth. Despite my I-don't-care act, honestly, I'm a little queasy inside. I still can't get sweet ol' Nudge out of my head. This Nudge is just so... "Any reason you dropped by?"

"You make too much noise. I was trying to eat, like everyone else in this food court, but of course, _you_ just have to spoil the peace."

I snorted. "What peace? This is a mall food court. If you want some peace, go to a restaurant."

Nudge crossed her arms. "It's still a public place. You could try to care about other people. But wait, I doubt you know anything about caring. You are Max Ride, the one that ran off with everyone's money."

My breath hitched. This is crazy. "When the hell did you become such a _bitch_, Nudge?"

I heard Astrea snort and saw Smurfie choke on her fries.

Nudge narrowed her eyes, though I saw a bit of surprise in her eyes. "Just shut it, mmkay?" She spun around and stalked off to wherever she came from. I think I saw some steam come out of her ears.

I shook my head hard. "Argh!" I slammed my fists. "What is with Nudge?"

Astrea shrugged. "She used to be a sweatheart." She tilted her head. "That was before you left, I think."

Smurfie shrugged. "I never paid attention to the Lightys. But I think- Wait, was Nudge the one with the big head of curls?"

I nodded.

"Ohhh.. I remember her. A bit. She was on the volleyball team with me a couple years in a row. One year she started to avoid me. I think that was the year that you..." Smurfie trailed off. "Oh."

We sat in silence for a second, before Astrea suddenly said, "Go!"

Smurfie and I looked at her, then each other. A quick exchange of smirks later, we scarfed the last bit of fries and drowning our entire drink down our poor throats.

I can't help but think of those times when Nudge and I used to do the same thing Smurfie and I are doing now. Stuffing ourselves crazy until we can barely breathe.

Nudge. I'm sorry.

**Fang**

My face is itchy. Thanks to my Dark Knight costume, I have to wear an extremely itchy mask.

Dylan's standing next to me while I'm scratching my face off. "Looking good, Fang."

I grabbed for his head, but he ducked. "And you, Dylan."

He glanced down at his outfit. "Not the worst." Dylan looked up and pointed to my horrible mask. "At least I don't have an itchy mask."

"You noticed."

"Hard to ignore you clawing at your face." He smirked.

I ripped off the mask and chucked it at some random kid dancing. Said kid looked over at me and yelled.

"Happy Halloween, kid." I waved.

Dylan chuckled. "I'm going to find Angel."

And now I'm alone.

"Hey Fang."

Or not.

Some girl I've never seen, dressed in some sort of pirate girl costume, appeared in front of me.

I nodded.

She giggled. "Wanna dance?"

Before I could reply, the giggling pirate girl dragged me onto the dance floor.

Damn you Nudge for having another stupid Halloween party.

* * *

**Max**

"Oh sweetie, you look great!" Mom cooed.

"Yes, you do!" Roland clapped his hands.

I looked down at myself, then at my mirror self. This costume I bought with Astrea and Smurfie-a ragged green dress, ripped tights, my black combat boots, and a pair of droopy dark attachable wings-looks pretty good. My hair is all curled and slightly messed, and I'm (unfortunately) wearing makeup; dark silver eye shadow with light army green lips.

I am now a dark little Tinkerbell.

Mom came over and ruffled up my hair some more, to make it look more messy. "There."

"Max!" A bunch of voices called my name at the door. Turning around, I see Astrea, Smurfie, Will, and Ace standing at the door.

"Sorry to barge in, Valencia! Hope you don't mind!" Smurfie smiled.

Mom laughed. "No worries, Smurfie." She turned to me and smiled. "Ready to go?"

I nodded, smiling also. Mom gave me a quick squeeze and gently pushed me towards my friends at the door. With a wave, my friends charged toward Astrea's older brother's truck.

Roland stopped me. "Before you go, I just wanted to tell you that you and your mother are invited to the last beach house day trip of the year."

"All our old friends will be there!" Mom exclaimed. She must be happy to finally be able to bond with her old friends again.

I turned to Roland and gave his a smile. "That's great, Roland."

He smiled and patted my back. "We'll discuss some more later. For now, go on and have fun."

I waved and dashed into the car.

"Make sure you don't stay out too late, Max!" Mom called from the door, Roland standing beside her.

"Whatever!" I called back, hopping into the back of the pickup truck.

We started to head toward the big amusement park.

"Who's ready for some fun?" Ace shouted.

All of us cheered.

Oh yeah. We're ready for one epically awesome night.

* * *

**Fang**

Finally. The day after Nudge's terrible party. Also known as:

Halloween.

All around me, I see tacky Halloween decorations everywhere, even on some of the rides. People mostly my age, dressed in crazy costumes, roamed around laughing and screaming.

I, in my glorious Dark Knight costume, am in line for the Hell's Wrath coaster with the flock.

"We're neeeext!" Angel chattered, nervous, yet I think she's also really excited.

Dylan draped his arms around her shoulders. "It'll be worth the scare, Ange. Don't worry."

"Like that's any helpful." Nudge snorted.

Angel giggled, just as the metal railing opened, allowing us to step into the cart. Ella and I chose the third seat, Dylan and Angel near the back, Nudge huddled up beside some random girl she's already chatting up with, and the Idiotic Idiots at the very front.

A voice over the speakers said some stuff I didn't bother listening to, and then we started to move.

"Whoo!" Gazzy and Iggy shouted.

We almost reached the top of the hill. I could hear Angel screaming already, and Dylan trying to calm her down.

Ella gripped my arm. Really tight.

The Twins continued to cheer and pump their fists.

And now… We drop.

* * *

**Max**

"AHHHHHHH!"

"OHMIGOD!"

"WHOOOHOO!"

"OHMIGOD!"

_Screeeeech!_

'Thank you for riding the Shrieking Skull! Enjoy the rest of your night!'

I sumbled out of my cart, grinning. I am so full of adrenaline, it's crazy.

"That was epic!" Smurfie shouted.

"Hell to the yes!" I pumped my fist.

Will laughed and grabbed my non raised hand.

"Hey, you okay?" said Ace, behind us.

Smurfie, Will, and I turned around. Ace is holding Astrea as she wobbles out of a cart.

I glanced at Smurfie, who gave me a little worried look.

"Astrea...," I started.

Astrea looked up at us. Then she broke out into the biggest smile I've ever seen on her. "Let's do that again!"

We all cracked up. Smurfie jumped onto Astrea, who's still unsteady, and they collapsed, making us all laugh even more.

"But really," Astrea said, catching her breath. "Can we go on this again?"

A chorus of agreements rang out among us. So, we raced over to the line-up again.

"After this, we should definitely head over to the-"

I zoned out from my friends' chatter because something caught my eye.

Fang. Funny how such a dark figure managed to catch my eye in the dark. He looks pretty good in that costume, actually.

I see him following behind the flock, who's headed toward the control stand at a different ride.

Ah. One of their Halloween jokes.

A wave of nostalgia ran though me. They may be acting like brats to me, but I can't help missing them.

"Waiting in line is always a pain, isn't it?"

I blink and see Ella leaning on the bar beside me.

She cocked her head. "I heard you're gonna join us for the last monthly beach day of the year."

"Uh huh," I nodded.

Ella squeeled a bit. "You excited? It'll be great!"

I blinked again. Then I just remembered what happened at the first cross country practice we had a month ago. When we called it a truce.

"Yeah. It'll be fun." That's not really a lie, but it's not really true, either. Unless the rest of my darling friends accept me, it could be hell.

Ella gave me a wink and skipped away toward the flock.

"What was that?" Astrea whispered to me.

I stared after Ella.

"I don't even know."

* * *

**Fang**

"Boo!" Iggy and Gazzy yelled from behind a giant clown mask. I'll admit, the clown mask is pretty creepy.

The kids in front of the mask screamed and ran off in the other direction.

The Twins howled with laughter.

The ceiling creaked above me. Glancing up, I see Dylan and Angel on a platform, controlling a floating white sheet with eyes around like a puppet. More little kids screamed.

I chuckled along with Dylan and Angel, who waved down at me. This little funhouse is supposed to be a harmless little house thing with weird lame stuff. But of course, if you put the flock in here, things get a lot more interesting.

While Ella and Nudge released some fake flying bats, I sneaked out the side door.

Fresh air. Not really, unless you want to count the smell of candy and popcorn and other weird smells fresh.

Checking my phone, it flashed '11:55pm' on the screen. Almost twelve. As if the flock knows this too, they walked out the door behind me.

Ella grabbed my and Nudge's arm. "Come on! Let's find a spot!"

I let her drag me over to a giant fountain, the flock just behind us. In five minutes, at exactly midnight, there will be a bunch of fireworks shooting across the sky, and also tons of pop-outs appearing pretty much everywhere. We always sit by the fountain since we figured out that pop-outs never pop out here, making it a great spot to see everything; the screams, the fireworks, the pop-outs, the park.

"One more minute!" said Angel, excitedly.

Just a few more seconds. I took in the view of the park from my spot here. I caught a glimpse of a familiar face. Oh look. It's Max.

Her costume looks really good on her. Really, really good. It suits her. Green's a good colour on her. She should wear it more.

Man, my man-brain is suffering.

I see Max's head turn toward me. Our eyes locked for a second. I winked, and she looked away, a faint blush on her cheeks.

I smirked. "Five seconds!" Angel and

"Five." Dylan said, squeezing Angel's hand.

"Four!" Nudge piped in.

"Three!" The Twins said together.

"Two!" Ella grinned.

"One!" We all shouted, just as the fireworks exploded and creepy zombies and ghost things stuck out of bushes and corners.

We cheer and laugh at those who are screaming from the pop ups.

I glance over at Max again and see that she and her friends are now sitting in the trees. Smart.

She's also laughing at the poor screamers on the ground.

Chuckling, I look up into the sky.

* * *

**Max**

I held onto Will's hand up here in the trees, just as the big show started. I find it a bit odd that they're displaying fireworks on Halloween, but whatever. It's pretty.

We all watched the people on the ground screaming their heads off, while we laughed our butts off. I remember I used to be down there screaming like all the other kids. That feels like a million years ago.

Now I'm sitting in the trees with a new group of people, laughing.

Well. What a happy Halloween.

* * *

_**lol i love how its NOT Halloween, and yet i write a chapter on Halloween. XD**_

_**i don't wanna blab, cuz its pretty pointless, but when you're bored, you blab.**_

_**so. anyone watched the Olympics so far? I did! I love the Olympics… even though im not really much of an athlete at all…**_

_**alrighty. I got over a Writer's block, and managed to write a pathetic chapter for you people! So please, spare a second of your precious lives..**_

_**and REVIEW. **_

_**:)**_

_**-zammielicious98**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**hey peoplee! heres chapter.. 8? already? its not all that much, but i still find it an achievment. i dont get very far in writing...**_

_**anywhooo, this is a little shorter than normal, but i didnt want to add anymore to it. **_

_**blah blah, on to the story!**_

_**disclaimer: JP owns MAXRIDE, Keiran Scott owns the story this is based on, and I own neither -.-**_

* * *

**Max**

"We're here!" said Roland, cheerily.

Mom clapped and pecked Roland on the cheek.

I wish I didn't see that.

We all got out of Roland's car, my backpack slung over my shoulder.

Roland's beach house is huge. Then again, all the Lightys' beach houses are huge. Mine used to be too.

"Dad!" A short girl that looks about my age ran out of the beach house.

Roland smiled. "Hi pumpkin. Did you get the rooms ready?"

The girl nodded. "Come in!"

She led us all into the huge beach house. The inside looked even bigger. Shiny pastel walls, picture frames with Roland and the girl, very high ceilings, big fancy schmancy chandeliers, sparkly and very cold floors, and so on. Add a smaller version of the Titanic spiral staircase, and voila.

We went up the stairs to the second floor, which is just as epic. The hallway is very spacey, and there are five doors leading to five rooms. Roland led Mom into the master bedroom-I am mentally gagging my guts out-while the girl led me down the hall to the room farthest away from the master bedroom (thank the Lord).

"Here you go!" The girl opened the door to reveal a pretty big coral colored bedroom with a white bed, white curtains, white bedside table, white lamp- basically all the furniture is white. A very, very pure white. The blinding-your-eyes kind of white.

Blinking, I said, "Thanks...," and walked in.

I noticed as I walked in that there's a washroom connected to the room. Sweet.

"If you need anything, just ask. I'm right across the hall." The girl smiled and spun around. Just as she took a step, she added, "I'm JJ, by the way." With that, she waltzed into her room.

That girl has too much energy for a Saturday morning.

I set my backpack down by my bed. This room is really empty. It feels weird. Like I'm inside an alien or something.

Walking over to the window, I realized it's connected to a balcony. I smiled and opened it.

A breeze hit me, making my air fly. I have the sudden urge to spread my arms like Rose from the Titanic. Too bad my Jack is missing...

The beach is nice and the ocean is calming. The sand is brown-ish and soft looking, and the water is blue and sparkly.

Can you tell that I have nothing better to do? I am mentally boring myself with-

A voice. I hear a voice. By the beach.

Squinting my eyes, I can make out four little figures by the shore. The Flock, I guess.

Sigh. Ella and I may have a truce, and Fang and I may be... not-hating, but the rest of them is still...

"Max?" Someone knocked on the door. I looked over my shoulder to see Mom leaning on the door frame. "We're planning on going down to the beach now. Everyone's already there."

"Okay," I nodded. I honestly have nothing better to do, so heck, I might as well go down and face everyone.

It took a lot quicker than I thought to get down to the beach to everyone. I trailed behind Mom and Roland. In front of them, JJ skipped her way toward everyone.

As we got closer, Mom, her arm linked through Roland's, greeted all her old friends happily. I haven't seen her this happy in a while.

"Having fun?"

Ella stood beside me in a light blue and white striped bikini.

"Uh huh," I continued to stare out into nowhere.

"You should change and join us in the water."

I frowned a bit. "Like I'm wanted in there with everyone." I side-glanced at Ella. "Are you even allowed to talk to me?"

Ella shrugged it off. "Come on, we're at the beach!" She reached into a bag I didn't notice until now, and took out a purple thing. "Here," she stuck it into my hands. "Go change into this."

I'm about to protest, but she's already pushing me toward the washroom. "See you in the water!" Ella skipped away in her little bikini.

I don't do bikinis. I need, at least, a pair of board shorts.

One stall is out of order, and the only other stall is occupied. So I waited. Not like I have another choice. If I go out, Ella would shove me back in.

The stall started to open. I took a step forward and bumped into Nudge. Oh banana...

"What are you doing here?"

"Going to the washroom.'Cause we're in a washroom. Duh."

"Hmph. Just move out, freak." Nudge shoved me over. She tried walking over to the sink, but I grabbed her wrist.

Nudge glared. "If you don't let go now, I swear-"

"What? Huh? You'll do what? What can you do besides ignore the hell out of me?" I shook my head, tightening my hold on her wrist. "Nudge. What the hell did I do to you?"

She laughed. "I've had enough of you. I know that Ella was like a sister to you, and Angel adored the crap out of you. So where'd that leave me? You were nice enough to keep me around like you did." She took a step closer. "And now? I don't need you. _We_ don't need you. But thanks."

I stared, the back of my throat burning. "That's not true."

"Yes. It is. I would know, Max."

I just shook my head. "Nudge-"

"You done changing yet?" Ella called through the door.

Nudge and I just stared at each other.

"Or not. Hurry up, will you?" We waited to hear her footsteps retreat.

We both let out a breath, and briefly smiled. The smile was gone so fast, I would've thought I imagined it.

In my little daze, Nudge yanked her wrist out of my grip. Without talking, she washed her hands and walked out of the washroom.

Nudge...

* * *

**Fang**

"Marco." I said.

"POLO!" Everyone screamed. Wow, my friends are kind of stupid.

"Marco."

"POLO!" I felt an extremely heavy weight on my back. My knees buckled immediately, and I plunged into the water.

I moved away from the weight, then broke the surface, spluttering salty water. Everyone's half in and half out of the water. It seems that they all jumped on me, stacked up together, and because they're laughing so hard right now, they haven't bother get off each other. I can see Gazzy choking with laughter and water at the bottom of the pile.

Shaking my head, I sneak away to where all our parents are sitting around.

Angel's mom saw me and smiled. "Hello Fang. Can you tell the others to come? It's time for lunch."

I nodded and turned around. The Flock is still the way I left them. That's pretty sad.

I cleared my throat and cupped my hands over my mouth. "FOOD."

The Flock froze. Then, they were all splashing and pushing their way to shore.

My friends are very pathetic.

I walked over to our parents again, staying clear of the stampede of hungry teenagers.

Looks like we're having hot dogs, burgers, veggies, and fries. I sat down next to my dad, reaching for a burger. It wasn't until I tried reaching the ketchup bottle, that I realized that Max was sitting beside me the whole time. Or it was more like I sat beside her by accident. A good accident.

The ketchup bottle is magically moving toward me. Then I see the hand that's holding the bottle. I trailed the arm to see a face. Max's face.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

The corner of her lips quirked up. "Anything to help the needy."

"I am not needy." I smirked, but it turned into a smile.

"Eh, it was close enough." Her lips widened into a full smile.

I looked at Max for the first time since we came to the beach. She's wearing a purple bikini and shorts. She looks really good. I think she noticed me looking at her, because a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

Grinning, I opened the ketchup bottle. The ketchup is not coming out. I'm shaking it, pounding on it, and mentally screaming at it, but the ketchup won't budge. Just as I spin the bottle around, the ketchup squirts out and hits Max in the face.

My lips formed an O, my eyes widening. Crap. Max is going to-

A weird, smelly, liquid-y thing attached itself to my face. Rubbing it out of my eyes, I see that it's the disgusting yellow of mustard.

I look up and see Max smiling, despite the ketchup on her face. "I prefer ketchup than mustard."

I stared at my hand. "I hate mustard."

She laughed, setting my nerves on fire. "So do I. Good thing you hate it too. The mustard on your face is so much funnier."

Looking at my hand again, I smirked. Before she could see it coming, I reached for the relish bottle and squirted that in her hair.

Max froze. Her hand crept toward her hair, relish sticking to her fingers. "Oh my stinking relishes. Fang Reynolds, you are-"

A patty went down the back of my shirt. I have no idea how Max got behind me without me noticing, but she did it. I squirmed. The patty is still hot.

Max laughed hard. So hard, Coke started spilling out of her nose. She choked and covered her nose. "Ow, my nose hurts." She laughed even more.

This girl is amazing.

I suddenly felt a little kick in my back. Turning around, I see Ella walking toward Nudge ad Angel, flipping the bird at me behind her back.

Thanks, Ella.

Before I could get back at Max again, Ella came back around, dragging Max with her.

Thanks _again_, Ella.

* * *

**Max**

"So how's your dad?"

"W-What?" I spluttered.

Ella shrugged. She dragged me away from Fang, saying she wanted to walk with me. So, we're walking along the shore, but not far from everyone.

"Well, your dad is missing, right? Do you know where he might be?"

"No…" I don't like where this is all going.

"Really?"

"Do you?" I snapped.

Ella raised her hands. "I'm just wondering."

Well I wish you'd STOP wondering.

"So. How do you like our new guy?"

"What?" Does she...?

"You know. Fang. I saw you with him. How'd you like him?"

"Um," I can't deny that I'm feeling very awkward right now. "He's okay."

"Huh."

Silence fell on us after that. A tinge of awkwardness in the air, but nothing I can't handle. Or maybe I really I can't.

"Let's head back." Ella led the way, walking a bit in front of me.

We got back to our parents, splitting ways; Ella going to Nudge and Angel, and me sitting beside Fang again. He seems quieter and tenser now than before. I wonder why.

"I'm sure it must be really bad." I heard Dylan's mom, Sara, say.

"Yes, I don't know what I would do." said Kelly, the Twins' mom.

"Us girls need to stick by now, don't we? You should come to our outings again, Valencia." Tamika, Nudge's mom, said, smiling.

What are the moms talking about?

"Oh! I have a splendid idea! For Christmas this year, we should have our celebration dinner at your place, Valencia!" Angel's mom, Dana, exclaimed.

"Yes, yes!" The lady I'm assuming is Fang's mom, clapped.

My mom, however, looks very uncomfortable. "Um, that might not be such a good idea."

"Why not, Val? Don't you want us over?" Dana asked, innocently. That's where Angel gets her angelic look. "Oh wait. You won't be able to fit us all in, right? Not with that little hut of yours."

"Dana." Ella's mom, Jenny, the only one of Mom's old friends that is still nice to her and talks to her, snapped.

The moms, minus Jenny, laughed. The dads didn't bother paying attention to say anything. Except Roland, who is rubbing Mom's back.

"Um," Mom's breath is ragged. "I-"

"It's alright, hun. If you manage to find a house, then you can invite us over. That is, if you have the money." said Tamika.

Mom's face is reddening. Not with anger, no. She's too humiliated to be angry.

I nudged Fang. "What the hell is going on?" I whispered.

"The moms just started to talk about your dad, and now...," Fang trailed off.

"They're embarrassing the crap out of my mother. Of course." I finished.

Anger boiled inside me.

Fang's mother spoke. "If you need a job, Valencia, I'd be glad to help you."

"I-I already have one."

"At Walmart? Please. I'll help find a better paying one."

"Shut up, Mom."

All eyes landed on Fang.

His mom's eyes widened a bit. "Fang-"

"I said shut up! You don't even know Valencia. So why are you doing this?" Fang glared at his mom.

"Fang, I-"

"I can't believe you're related to me."

Fang's mom's eyes glistened. His dad stepped in. "That's enough, Fang."

Fang's glare moved to his father. "Why are you letting her so this?"

"Why are you defending Max?" Ella cut in, before Fang's dad could reply. I could hear a little edge to her voice.

"I'm not. I just think that ganging up on her mom is all ridiculous. Especially my mom. She doesn't even know her." Fang said calmly. "To the rest of you, Valencia was your friend."

"Fang Nicholas Reynolds. We will talk about this later." Fang's dad said in a firm 'end-of-discussion' voice.

Fang sat in silence. I stared at him. Why'd he just do that?

Roland spoke up. "I'm pretty tired. Valencia, how about we head to the beach house now?"

Mom nodded silently. She can't even speak 'cause she's so embarrassed.

They started walking toward the beach house. Mom called quietly over her shoulder to me, telling me to follow.

I stood up. I feel like I have to say something. "Thank you. You were ever-so pleasant to be with."

I turned around, about to make my exit, when I heard Nudge snort loudly. The Flock muffled a laugh.

"Oh and Nudge? I suggest you stay away from green. It looks bad on your brown skin."

Nudge gasped, looking down at her green bikini.

I winked at her, earning me a glare, and then I stalked away.

Any bit of sympathy I felt for Nudge before has disappeared.

* * *

**Fang**

"What was that, Fang?" Dad paced back and forth in front of me. "You know how much your mother has worked to be good friends with the others."

Dad continued to rant-yell and pace. This went on since the moment we got into our beach house. Mom ran into her room, a faint crying sound drifting down into the kitchen.

That was an hour ago. How does Dad not get tired of pacing and yell-ranting?

"Fang! Are you even listening to me?"

I rolled my eyes. "How can I not? You're loud."

"Fang!" Dad roared. He slamed his fist into the wall and stalked up the stairs.

Finally. Silent at last.

"When we get home, you are grounded for a month!" He yelled down to me.

Great. Time for some bonding with my room.

* * *

_**did you know that seagulls are very very vicious creatures? i was at a beach in new york today, and i saw this fat grey seagull with a little innocent crab in its mouth. my mom, her friend, my lil sis, and i watched the gull eat it and swallow it whole. my sis had to look away. **_

_**so, no matter how random this is,**_

_**RIP poor innocent crab. ;(**_

_**...**_

_**kay so that was beyond random. sorry bout that.. im just home alone with my sis and im bored...**_

_**...**_

_**reviews are very very welcome! it was hard for me to update this, so please, **_

_**REVIEW! **_

_**please? ill even accept a 'HI!' xD**_

_**...**_

_**before i blab on another random weird story, ill be off!**_

_**sianara,**_

_**zammielicious98**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**THANK YOU everyone sooooooooooo much for the reviews! lol**_

_**..soooooo i couldve updated a liiiiittle sooner, but i rewrote the chappie cuz yeah. but here it is! **_

_**enjoyyy ;)**_

* * *

**Max**

I'm somewhat relieved to go back to school. After that terrible weekend, I think school will get my mind off things. No matter how much I hate math. And pretty much every single other subject I have to take. But hey, I'm not thinking about what happened Saturday, right? Crap. Now I am.

Mom stayed silently mortified on our way back home from the beach house. But the second she steeped through our home, she dashed to her bedroom. For the rest of the day (and night), all I heard was crying.

Crying. _Again_. Wasn't the first time enough? Before I know it, my poor mother's eyes are going to be red and puffy for the rest of her life.

Sunday was better. Smurfie invited me to her lovely 'Smurfalicious' cottage. Her parents gave her a cottage of her own, so she went off and spray painted it in leopard print and the roof and doors all Smurf blue.

It was impossibly Smurfie-fied.

I told her and Astrea everything. Smurfie wanted to give me a 'cleansing ritual'. Not knowing what that is, it was probably better to stay away, but I went along with it. . .

_"Max, sit. Right there." Smurfie pointed to a spot on the ground._

_I sit down._

_"Now, where's the candles...," Smurfie pondered._

_I cocked my head. "Candles?"_

_Smurfie raised her arms above her head. "The ritual! Candles are a must in rituals!"_

_"What?" I said again. "I didn't think you meant a literal ritual!"_

_"I mean everything literally!" Smurfie said, exasperated._

_"No, you don't, Smurfie."_

_"Yes, I do!" She turned to Astrea. "Astrea!"_

_Astrea lifted her head out of the fridge."You don't actually, Smurfie."_

_"Since when?"_

_"Since forever."_

_"Hmph." Smurfie crossed her arms. "I still need candles."_

_Astrea face palmed. "Oh for goodness-"_

_"What's that?" I pointed to a little pile of colourful round block things on a shelf._

_Smurfie's face lit up. "Candles!"_

_Astrea groaned and banged her head against the fridge door. I just fell back and stared at the never-ending blue ceiling. Hey, is that a bug?_

_"Thanks Max!"_

_I absent-mindedly waved my arm around. "No problem." I brought my arm down. "Or actually..."_

_"It was a problem." Astrea muttered._

So, it wasn't perfect, but it took my mind off Saturday. That's all that mattered. I think that was the whole point, but with Smurfie, you never know.

I am currently stepping into the hellhole where some certain bitches will most definitely be around.

They better stay away. Or for Heaven's sake, they'll wish they never met me.

* * *

**Fang**

For a Monday morning, it turned out pretty good. My parents ignored me, locking themselves in their room, but that's fine with me. I didn't want to talk to them either.

As I'm walking toward my locker with Dylan, I hear the girls' voices.

We turn the corner and see Ella, Nudge, and Angel standing by Max's locker. What are they doing, standing by Max's locker? The second Max sees them… Well, they're asking for a death wish.

And there comes Max. She hasn't spotted them- Oh, she did. And her expression is far from friendly. It's both frightening and attractive. How is that even possible?

Dylan and I sunk into the background. Best not to get involved when girls get pissy.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" Max growled. She shoved them over to get to her locker.

Ella reached for her arm, but Max nudged her off. "Hey, what's the deal?"

Max snorted. "What's the deal? You're kidding, right? Did you not see what your pathetic moms did?" She shook her head. "No. Just go. Leave me alone."

"Come on, Max. We're sorry, 'kay?" Nudge said.

"Oh, please, Nudge. Not _you_. It's not like you really care about me. You made that pretty clear last night." Max glared at Nudge. Nudge met her glare, but she looks a little uncomfortable, her lips in a tight line.

"Really, Max. We're sorry. Let's end this little feud between us, hm?" Ella said.

Max, looking skeptical, didn't say anything.

Ella kept going. "We want to invite you to our Christmas break going away party. It's in three weeks, before the break. You remember, right?"

Max nodded.

"Great! So this year, we're planning on partying in Mr. Grinsby's pool."

"You mean the grumpy old hag who'll probably kick our little asses in jail." Max said lamely.

Ella waved her hand. "He would, if we didn't talk to him about it."

"Won't it be cold? It's December." Max raised her brows.

"It's indoor. Duh." She took a step toward Max. "Come on. Mr. Grinsby has the _biggest_ pool in town. How can you resist?"

A pause. Then she said, "Maybe."

Angel piped up. "Really Max? Yay! It'll be so much fun! And we really are sorry." She looked down. I'm sure she really is sorry. I can't really say for the others...

Max bit her lip. She saw the sincerity in Angel's apology, too. "Okay. Fine. Give me a date and time."

Ella clapped her hands. "Last day before break. Nine at night."

"Okay." Max said. "See you."

She turned on her heel and walked off to class. The other girls stared after her, and then left.

Phew. They didn't notice me or Dylan.

"Man, that was close." Dylan started walking toward our lockers. I followed.

"Yeah. Would've sucked if we got into that. Max was _pissed_."

"It was pretty hot."

I froze. _What?_ I mean, he's right, but...

"Thanks for backing up Max and her mom that day."

"No problem...?" Why is he thanking me?

I don't ask, of course. Maybe I don't want to know why. But either way, I don't ask what the deal is.

Dylan shoved me forward. "Dude, come on. Don't want to be late. Mr. T can be a-"

Ignoring Dylan blab on, I think about Max.

I don't know if I should be excited for this year's party. But I do know one thing.

It's going to be a hell of a lot different.

* * *

**Max**

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Astrea asked for the hundredth time.

"No." I banged my head on the lunch table. "It's a terrible idea. But they were just… I don't know."

I told them about the events of this morning. They seem to think it's not such a great idea, but Astrea keeps asking me.

Will, who decided to join us for lunch today, rubbed my back. "Well, you're not going to ditch us now that you're invited in with the Lightys, are you?"

I lifted my head. "No way in hell, will I ever do that. Sure, I want to be with my old friends again, but you guys will still be my best friends." I gave them each a smile.

Smurfie grinned and hugged me. "Don't get sucked up! You officially promised now. Besides, we'll have to give you another ritual, then."

Astrea and I shared a look-a horrified, deer-in-the-headlights look. "Uh," I said. "That probably won't be necessary. I'll just stay clean." The last part came out a bit like a question. Oh well.

Looking at our expressions, Will asked, "Do I want to know what the ritual is?

Astrea and I shake our heads really hard; my brain feels like its rattling. Will chuckled.

We drop the whole Lightys thing then, and went on with lunch as we always do.

Just three weeks to go. I can't get that out of my head. Why am I stressing out on this? It's going to be fun! They even apologized. And I'm sure they meant it.

I still keep my distance from them for the next three weeks. Besides the occasional-short-chitchat with Ella here and there, life is completely normal.

It's almost nice.

**Fang**

Three weeks just couldn't come fast enough.

Tonight's the night of the party. Mr. Grinsby's house is about two blocks from my place. His name is pretty ironic, since he's never grinned before. Or smiled, or smirked, or even lifted the corner of his lips. Unless it's to snarl at someone-which he does a lot.

My phone blinks nine p.m. on the screen. I should be there by now. But I'm not. 'Cause I'm grounded.

Although lately, my parents have been locked in their rooms when they're not at work, so I think I can sneak out.

Just need to wait a few minutes for them to sleep. In the meantime, I lay here on my bed. Doing nothing. Admiring my white ceiling.

_Bzz! Bzz! Bzz!_

I lazily grab my vibrating phone. Not bothering to check the caller I.D., I answer.

"Yo."

"Fang! Where are you? It's ten past nine!" Ella said.

Already? Did I actually stare at my ceiling for ten minutes? Time sure flies.

"Be there soon."

"'Kay hurry! We might set off some fireworks!"

"Wouldn't that make a lot of noise? Mr. Grinsby isn't deaf."

Ella laughed. "We're not at Mr. Grinsby's pool. I forgot to tell you before. We're at Nudge's place. The hot tub is ah-mazing in this cold."

I paused. "And Max?"

She laughed again. "Like I said, I forgot to tell you."

"Tell me what." My stomach's not feeling so good.

"That we told Max to sneak in to Mr. Grinsby alone."

My stomach flipped. "You said he gave you permission."

"You believed it? Sweet!"

"Ella...," I think I'm going to throw up.

"I heard he's home today. She'll get her little reunion with him! She hasn't seen him in three years!"

"Ella," I said again.

"Just get your ass here, okay? I don't want to start the fireworks without you, but you know I will if you're late."

I didn't say anything. I can't. This is all just...

"Fang? Hello? You still there? Fang? Fang! Answer the damn-"

I hung up. I'll definitely get my ass kicked for that, but that doesn't matter right now.

Damn. Two blocks. Well, that's not bad. I can run it.

Before I know it, I'm out of my house, thundering down the street.

One block done, another one to go.

Come on, come on! He just has to live on the last house on this long street. Karma hates me. Then again, Karma hates everyone.

Just a few more feet to go...

I stopped and panted, trying to catch my breath. It's not easy running in the freezing cold, but it sure beats the heat.

"Max!" I called out as loudly as I dare.

Silence.

"Max! Are you-?"

"Fang?" A voice called from over Mr. Grinsby's fence. His very tall fence. Very, very tall.

I see a couple of tipped over garbage cans by the fence. So that's how Max got in.

Sigh. Here goes nothing.

One step, two step, and hop. I'm over.

"Max?" I call again, quieter than before.

"Over here!" I see a shadow wave from beside the backyard door.

The whole bottom part of the back wall of the house is glass. We can see the indoor pool inside.

As I came closer, Max asked, "Do you have a key or something? Actually," she looked around. "Where is everyone?"

"They're not here."

Max rolled her eyes. "No shit, Batman."

Batman? "It's Sherlock."

"Really? I thought you'd like Batman better."

"No, I-" I shook my head. There's no time to chat. Or bicker. "We have to get out of here."

"What?" Max frowned. "What do you mean we have to go? I just got here, and so did you."

I shook my head. "No time to explain. But we have to-"

"Oh look what we have here. Two kids trying to sneak into my house. How nice."

Max and I froze, then slowly turned our heads to see Mr. Grinsby behind us.

"Anything you two want to say?"

I looked at Max out of the corner of my eyes. She's as shell-shocked and frozen as... a shell-shocked and frozen Max.

I gulped. "Crap."

Mr. Grinsby raised a brow. "You got that right."

* * *

_**ooh Maxie and Fangles are in trouuuubbleeee...**_

_**lol. random: the Olympics are epiccc, arent they? just saw Usain Bolt and his epic jealous-worthy speedyness. he won gold. OBVIOUSLY.**_

_**OMG. does everyone know what tomorrow is? im sure you do! its the day... NEVERMORE IS RELEASED! I AM SOOOOOO PSYCHED!**_

_**but do you know what really sucks? tomorrow is some holiday for me. the stores will all be closed T.T**_

_**i just hope that when i go to get my own precious copy of NEVERMORE, it wont be sold out :( its happened w another book before... it was so sad! they were completely out of stock! thanks to my moms brilliant idea to go get the book 4 days AFTER the release date. -.-**_

_**anyways, again, THANK YOU amazing people for the reviews!**_

_**a total of 90 reviews is amaaazing! but.. u think u guys can get over 100?**_

_**we'll have to see ;)**_

_**til next timeee,**_

_**zammielicious98**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**thanks so much for the reviews! really. thank u. so much. i managed to reply to a few of you. but to the rest, i give you my friendly love. ^.^**_

_**disclaimer: not miiineeee! **_

* * *

_Previously on Home Is Where My Grave Is..._

_"Oh look what we have here. Two kids trying to sneak into my house. How nice."_

_Max and I froze, then slowly turned our heads to see Mr. Grinsby behind us._

_"Anything you two want to say?"_

_I looked at Max out of the corner of my eyes. She's as shellshocked and frozen as... A shellshocked and frozen Max._

_I gulped. "Crap."_

_Mr. Grinsby smirked. "You got that right."_

* * *

**Max**

Shit. What the hell? Ella said-

"Ella." I growled.

Fang gave me a short nod. _Yes_.

I feel stupider than ever. Of _course_ Mr. Grinsby wouldn't let us in his pool. Heck, he wouldn't ever let us near his house. He hates us. Especially me. I just have to want to be on the good side of my old friends. Why can't I have a conscience? A voice?

_You are stupid, Max_

Nevermind. I don't want a voice. Forget I ever mentioned it.

Right now, Fangles and I are sitting in Mr. Grinsby's living room. Oh, the joy.

"You two are in trouble. You are aware of that, correct?"

Fang and I nodded.

"I could call the cops right now. You could be arrested."

We nodded again. I don't know the whole police blah blah, but I'm pretty sure trespassing isn't gold star worthy.

"But I won't."

Phew. We let out a breath of relief. Like I said, I don't know the shebang of all this, but it's not good. I owe you one, Mr. G.

"As to what you two were trying to do, I don't want to know. I do not need to know, nor do I care. But you still crossed into my property. Now," Mr. Grinsby stared at us with piercing gray eyes. "What should I do with you two?"

"Yell at us with your fist in the air and tell us how nasty our generation of kids are and then let us go?" I muttered under my breath.

Mr. Grinsby narrowed his eyes at me. Oops, he heard. "Somebody's got a big mouth."

I crossed my arms and shrugged. "At least I know how to use it."

Fang cleared his throat. "Sorry about her, Mr. Grinsby. And we apologize for sneaking onto your property. But it would be very nice to let us off somewhat easy."

Woah. Fang's got a brain. Didn't see that coming.

Mr. Grinsby gave an appreciative look; still no smile. "Thank you... _Fang_. I always appreciate your polite manners." He glanced at me-disgusted, by the way-then back at Fang. "It may have been a long time since I've last seen this young lady, but we've had more than enough years to get to know each other." Mr. Grinsby looked right at me. "And you haven't changed a bit."

I gave him a big cheesy grin. "Why, thank you, Mr. G!"

"That was not meant to be a compliment."

"Really? I rather thought it was."

Mr. Grinsby sighed and rubbed his temples. Oh how much I missed Mr. G.

After a long silence-me sitting impatiently, Fang sitting as still and quiet as only he can, and Mr. Grinsby still rubbing his temples while deciding how to punish us-Mr. Grinsby finally spoke up.

"Maximum. N-Fang." He said, looking at each of us.

"Yes?" I squeaked. Ew, I squeaked. Why the hell did I _squeak_?

I see the corner of Fang's lip twitch out of the corner of my eye. He noticed. _Bum_.

Mr. Grinsby sighed. "Maximum, I've known you for a very long time. No matter how unpleasant, you're mother and I have been on good terms. I owe her some of my gratitute, in which I will use to punish you as gently as I feel you deserve" He cleared his throat. "Therefore, you will simply have 'detention'"-He quoted with his fingers-"with me. Here in this house, you will assist me with my garden. For a month."

Huh. Not too ba- Wah? So I have to face Mr. G everyday for a month. Well. Aren't I the luckiest girl on earth?

He turned to Fang. "Nicholas." OMG. _Nicholas_? Total blackmail material. Right there. "I am aware that your parents will want to pay me off. I am not going to let you go that easy. You need to be punished as well."

"Ah-" I tried to cut in. Tell him it's really not Fang's fault. I think. Well if he came to try to get me out, it must mean it's not his fault. Right?

Mr. Grinsby glared at me to shut up and continued to talk to_ Nick_. I am never gonna let that go. Not-so-jolly ol' Saint Nicky, you're name has been revealed to moi. Be jolly. Or not so jolly.

"Nicholas."

"Call me Fang, sir."

Mr. G ignored that. He seems to like playing the ignoring game. "Nicholas, you will also assist me for a month with Maximum." I really wish he'd stop calling me that.

But unfortunately, Mr. G likes full names. No nicknames, no pet names, no anything other than the possibly dreaded name on your birth certificate. So I guess he doesn't like that I call him Mr. G. Eh, sucks for him.

"Although, I will need to speak with your parents sometime, Nicholas." Mr. G added. A look passed between them; one that I don't recognize. What's that all about?

Fang looks awfully uncomfortable now. He seems almost... AFRAID...that Mr. Grinsby wants to chit chat with his 'rents.

"Mr. Grinsby, actually, I don't think that would be such a good idea...," Fang trailed off.

"Nonsense! I have some other things to discuss with your parents. This will simply be included." He turned to me. "And Maximum, you will need to call your mother as well. I would be pleased to discuss with your mother as well. It has been a good enough time since I last saw her."

I gulped. Mom won't be so happy. It's not like she's in much of a smiley mood right now to begin with.

Mr. Grinsby suddenly has an evil sparkly in his eyes. "Should I call your parents now?"

My eyes widened. "Oh no. Um, that won't really be neccessary, Mr. Grinsby." Seriously. It won't.

Fang nodded desperately in agreement.

"Actually," The evil sparkle is still there. Damn. "You two will call your own parents."

I dead. It's official. I'm dead.

"But Mr. Grinsby-"

"No buts, Maximum. Be thankful the police aren't involved." He gave me a pointed look.

I groan, not saying anything. He does have a point.

Mr. Grinsby stood up to get the phone. Just as he turns around, I swear on my poor little life that he smirked.

Oh my cheese sticks. I'm doomed.

**Fang**

Kill me. I won't haunt you.

Max decided that I should call first. Thanks, Max. You're on my haunt list.

"Hello?" Mom. _Shit_.

"Hi mom."

"Fang? I thought- Where are you?"

"Mr. Grinsby's place."

"What? The old man who works at the flower shop? Wha-What are you...?"

"And the Dark Knight goes down." Max muttered beside me, her ear glued onto the phone.

I glare at her; she grins.

"Fang?"

Oh yeah. My mom's still on the line. "Um, well..."

She freaked. To say the least, she freaked.

"Come home now, Fang. Please." Mom's thin voice pleaded.

"Okay. Bye mom." I hung up.

Mr. Grinsby nodded in approvement. Turning to Max, I hand her the phone. She backs away.

"My turn." She groaned.

Her conversation went much better than mine did. Lucky her.

"Okay, see you. Yeah. Bye Mom." Max hung up and handed the phone back to Mr. Grinsby. "Can we go now?"

"Say please, Maximum." Mr. Grinsby's eyes are sparkly. That's just really weird. I don't think I've ever used the word sparkly before, either.

Max rolled her eyes, but muttered a 'please'.

Mr. Grinsby gestured us toward the door. "Good night, you two. I'll see you for your 'detention' after the break. Come by after school everyday. I'll let you rest during weekends, depending on your progress during the week."

"Thank you, Mr. Grinsby." I said, nudging Max towards the door, before she messes this all up.

"Yes, thank you _so_ much. Merry Christmas!" Max called, as we walk out the door.

Mr. Grinsby gave a short nod and shut the door.

Max and I walked in silence. I'm not much of a conversationalist, so it's not a big deal for me. Gives me time to think.

To think about things like how my friends can be a fun group one minute, and then such psycho bitches the next.

By the time we reach the gate that leads out of the Lightys area, we still haven't said a word. We both stop walking and stand there.

"So. Nicholas?"

I groan. Of course she picked that up. And I know she's going to hold onto that for te rest of my life.

She smirks. "Guess I'll see you after the break."

"Yeah."

"Bye Nicky."

I glare. "Night Maxerella."

Max glares harder. "Don't you dare."

"Just did."

She stared at me. "Well... Merry Christmas!" And she ran.

Max is definitely one unnormal girl.

**Max**

That was probably the shortest Christmas break I've ever had. Or at least it felt that way.

First day back. Also the first day of my garden-detention.

Wait a sec. How does Mr. Grinsby plan on getting us to help with his garden if it's January? Is he trying to grow some twigs or something?

Indoor. Indoor garden. Of course.

Like what Ella said. An indoor pool.

ELLA.

I'm steering clear of them. _That_ is a good idea. Should've listened to Astrea asking me that repeatedly. I'm SO smart.

"Hey Max!"

I smiled. "Hey Astrea."

"I haven't talked to you since that last day and- The party. How was it?"

Uh. "Good?" Okay. That sounded weak, even to me.

Astrea sighed. "What now?"

So I tell her.

"I should've known it was a trap! That's why I kept asking you if it was a good idea! But I gave up on it! Which I should'nt have! Oh Max, I'm sorry!"

Um, woah. "Jeez, take a chill pill." I muttered. "Astrea? Don't sweat it. I blame Ella and the rest of them, and myself. Mmkay? Plus, I should've listened to your annoyingly repeated questions." I smirked.

She smiled. "Well, on the bright side..."

"There's a bright side?"

"Of course there is!" She laughed.

"Should I be scared?"

Astrea rolled her eyes. "Fang, you doof."

"What about him?" I ask wearily.

"You. Him. Together. Get it?"

I blink. Then a sudden realization hits me. I'm just that slow, but- "Oh my poor chicken. How did I not...?"

"'Cause you're Max. You don't realize it until it's, you know, too late." She grinned. Why is she grinning?!

"Astrea...!" I can't do this. Fang? Alone? With _me_? That ain't happening. No. It can't. I-

"Maxie! How's my little juvenile deliquest?" Smurfie looped her arm over my shoulders. Where'd she come from?

"It's 'delinquent' not... whatever you said." Astrea corrected.

Smurfie shrugged. "Sounds the same to me." She looked at me. "So? You excited for your precious time together?"

"How do you-"

"Astrea told me while you spaced out. You were having one of those weird mind panics, right?"

My friends know me better than I do. I feel like one of those -.- emoticons.

I roll my eyes. "Let's go. Get my mind off things."

"Well, it looks like another ritual will need to be held."

Scratch that. My mental emoticon is officially T.T now.

* * *

"Hellooooooo?" I called, knocking on the wooden door.

It creaks open after my hundreth knock. Mr. Grinsby appears behind the door. "Maximum." He nods. "And Nicholas."

I spin around and see Fang. He slugged behind me the whole time, didn't he. And he never bothered to say hi. What a tragedy.

"Come, come." Mr. Grinsby waved us in.

Let the hell begin.

* * *

**_kinda crappy, imo. oh well. i wanted to post something for you guys._**

_**okay! so yeah i mightve been able to update a bit sooner... but i rewrote a bit, cuz i couldnt totally decide what should happen next. i think coulve thought better, but that would take like a million years, so yeah, this should be..decent. besides, this is will help with the story later. you'll see. ;))**_

_**plus, my dearest mother decided to sign me up for this 3-week LIT (leader in training) course. it started this past week. 8hrs a day. boring. tho next week, i get to go to hang with kids for the whole week. too bad im getting evaluated and crap. whatever.**_

_**so yeah, thanks to that, writing time is taken away. along with sleep-in time and do-whatever-crap-you-want time. also, my mom is almost always with this laptop im using, and its the only working laptop in the house. my dad has his personal computer which i can use sometimes.**_

_**all in all, ill try to update asap, mmkay? alright.**_

_**OMG. SO. NEVERMORE. I READ IT. AND ITS SOOOOO FNICKING AWESOME! JP wasnt kidding when he said its an ending no one wouldve seen coming. cuz i sure as hell didnt. but its so amazing. i wanted to cry by the end of the book. i was like OMFG! and omg i dont wanna spoil...but something (*cough* someone *cough*) amazing happens to come back... AHHHH i was fangirl screaming throughout the whole book.**_

_**anywhoo, im off! **_

_**REVIEW pour moi! my magical writing powers will be sparked with epic rainbows. the next chappie will be up soon! maybe tomorrow if i can write the next chapter today... but yeahh.. no guarentee**_

_**toodle lou di doo! (lol wtf?)**_

_**-zammielicious98**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**okay. so i was extreeeemly tired this past week. i had those energy drains all week. but today.. is FRIDAY! (cue Rebecca Black's ridiculously annoying song)**_

_**on the bright side, at least im updating now, right? ya. **_

**_so without further adieu (lol its funny whenever people say this..) on with the story!_**

**_disclaimer: not miiiineee!_**

* * *

**Fang**

"Come, come." Mr. Grinsby waved us in.

Max and I cautiously stepped in. Yeah, we were here two weeks ago, but it's kind of different now. We're in 'detention'.

"So," Max started. She paused. "Now what?"

Mr. Grinsby gestured us to follow him. Not that we have much of a choice.

He led us down a hallway and down a set of stairs to the basement. I don't know what I expected, but it sure isn't what I see now.

It's pretty much a greenhouse. In a basement. It's a fairly big basement-greenhouse, too. Full of plants. Flowers, vegetables, some fruits, some.. weird things, and whatever else all these green stuff are.

I can tell Max is just as shocked as I am. Though she's showing it more than I am. She's gaping. Her eyes are huge. It's funny, actually.

"Welcome to my garden, children." Mr. Grinsby said.

That's just creepy. REALLY creepy.

"Uh, thank you?" said Max, who's probably feeling just as creeped as I am.

"Now, I will assign you to your job. Nicholas," Max tried to hide a little laugh here. And failed. "You will plant. And Maximum, you will... sort seeds."

She stared. "Sort _seeds_?"

"Yes." He nodded. "Now, get to work! I will decide how long you will work for."

Max kept staring. "Seeds?"

"Yes." Mr. Grinsby said again, a little irritated. He tells us to work again and goes upstairs.

Max turns to me, her face still in its weird expression. "_Seeds_?"

I patted her shoulder. "It's easy. Be glad."

She scoffed. "Yeah, sorting little nothings is a piece of cake."

"You might want to get started then."

"Why don't you. You get to plant stuff. Fun!"

"It beats sorting seeds."

"Arghh!" She stomped away to a shelf full of seeds. "Stupid seeds. Stupid Santa. Stupid Fang." Max muttered under her breath.

Shaking my head, I walk over to an empty spot in the garden. Mr. Grinsby set the tools here already.

"...Stupid Mr. G. Stupid detention. Stupid Ella. Stupid Flock. Stupid school. Stupid toilets-"

"What?" I cut in.

"I don't like toilets." She said, then continued. "Stupid toilet paper. Stupid ducks. Stupid- Ow! Stupid seed-cut. Stupid-"

And it went on until I finished planting three plants. Which takes a good amount of time, by the way.

"Stupid- Hey Fang? Do you like seeds? I hate them. They're evil. Especially the sunflower seeds. They bit me. I have the blood to prove it. You like blood, right? 'Cause you're a vampire? Yeah?" Max rambled, reminding me of Nudge. It's weird.

"I-" Max shut her mouth. She stayed silent for a while. A really long while. By then I've finished up all the planting.

I walk over to Max and sit down next to her and a giant pile of seeds. Picking up one, I quirk an eyebrow at Max. She glares at the seed (not me-phew). "Sunflower."

Of course. I put it aside and pick up another.

"Rose, I thi- What are you doing?"

I shrug. "You're not even halfway done. And I'm done. So I'm helping."

"Oh lookie. THE Fang Reynolds is helping me. Joy to the world, the apocolypse is here."

"What's with the extra coding of sarcasm, Maxie dearest?"

"I don't know, Fangley-poo. Go ask Santa." What's with her and Santa? I probably shouldn't ask. Especially not in her state now.

We fell into silence for a bit, sorting seeds.

"Um, hey Fang?"

I nod, showing her I'm listening.

"How's life?"

I stiffle a laugh. Or not. I'm full out Fang-laughing. (Yes, I have my own type of laugh.) "How's life?"

"What?" Max said, defensively. "It's an honest question! Just answer it, vampire. Before I stake you."

I roll my eyes. "Vampire? Really?"

"Fang? Really?"

"Max? Really?"

She smacked me. I smack her back. She froze for a second, before smacking me again. And I smack her back. And so on.

Max sighed, after we called a truce. "So how was life when you first moved into my house?"

Right. I moved into her house. And took her friends.

I shrug.

"The Flock? Did they invite you in?"

"Only because I'm hot."

Max froze, then stared at me. "You... You did NOT just say that."

I shrug, smirking.

She rolls her eyes in reply. "Serious conversations don't work with you, do they."

Probably because we're talking about how I took her place in the Flock. Even if she doesn't blame me.

"Speak for yourself."

"Ha-ha." Max dropped the seeds she was holding. "What sports to you play?" She side-glanced at me, a smirk creeping on her lips. "I mean, besides swimming, we both know that I kicked your butt at our little race."

I smirk back. "Well, can you swim?"

She paused. "I hate water."

"Or, the water just hates you."

Max stuck her tongue out. "Whatever. I can't swim fast enough to make a team. Even an amature preschool level team."

"Good. That means I can kick your butt at something." I smirk when she glares. "So is running and soccer all you do?"

"The field part of track and field. Though I prefer running, of course. But yeah, track and field and soccer. That's my life." Max chucked a sunflower seed-that somehow managed to cut her again-at a wall. "You know, I never got my medal for that 100m race I did. My dad made me a plaque thing to make up for it, before he... But an official medal for that amazing race would've been nice."

"What happened?"

"My parents decided to take me home before the little medal ceremony. The school decided to start giving out actual medals that year."

"And still up until now."

"Yeah. So I'm home, medal-less. That day was a Friday. I left on Monday, before I could go to the school and pick it up." Max sighed. Then laughed. "Why am I even telling you my tragic life story? Although it's nowhere near the tragic part yet. But it's bad enough."

I shrug one shoulder. I know enough about what happens to her, to know how suckish her life is. All thanks to my friends. Her old friends. I'm her replacement. The one living in her bedroom, her house, her life...

Something hit my face. Well, a bunch of little somethings. Seeds.

"Thanks Maxerella. I understand you are sick of seeds, but chucking them into my lovely face isn't going to-"

"Shut up, vampire. I vill stake you."

And more seeds meet my face.

**Max**

"So?"

I frown. "So what?"

"Soooo?"

"So WHAT?"

"SOOOO?"

"So _WHAT?!_"

"How was your week with Fang?"

I facepalm. "It was very... Fangy. A Fangy week."

One week of garden detention with Fang has gone by. Mr. Grinsby gave me the seed job for another two days after that Monday we started, but then for Thursday and Friday, he let me trim leaves. It's not much, but it's a start. Take it or leave it- I look it.

Astrea bounced up and down on my bed. "Fangy? What, is that your pet name for him?"

"Astreaaaa!" I shake my head hard. "Will. Remember?"

"I know, I know." She waved whatever I said away. "Why'd you say yes to him, again? I may not be psychic, but I swear, you had hidden feelings for Fang when you said yes to Will."

"I don't have-"

"And you still do. You just won't admit it." Astrea continued, crossing her arms.

I narrowed my eyes and pouted. "I do NOT have 'hidden feelings' for Fang. I like Will. My _boyfriend_ Will."

Astrea sighed. "Sooner or later, you're gonna admit the truth. Better be soon, or Will just might end up with the short end of the stick and a very broken heart."

I gulped. Why? Why am I gulping? What do I have to be afraid of? I like Will. Maybe I love him.

Astrea's crazy. I don't believe her.

**Fang**

"_WHAT?!_"

I covered my ears. Ella's screams are deadly.

She paced back and forth. "There's no other way around this? You can't beg Mr. Grinch? Give him money?"

I shook my head. "I told you. I agreed to this."

"But _why_?" Ella raised her hands in exasperation.

We've been going through this for what felt like an eternity. She just doesn't get it. And I hope she never does.

Ella mumbled something that I didn't catch. "What?" I asked.

"You should'nt have been there that night. You weren't supposed to."

"Like it makes a difference? Max could've been in big trouble. More than we already are." I almost snapped. I'm Fang-I can hold back.

"Why'd you go there, anyways? What do you care about how much trouble she gets in?" Ella asked, a slight edge to her voice.

I ignore her questions. "What you did is beyond crazy."

"It was just a prank, Fang."

"A bitchy one, Ella."

Ella narrowed her eyes at me. "Whatever. It was Nudge's idea, anyway. Not mine."

I take a deep breath, trying to hold back from screaming. Ella seriously doesn't get it. "That's what you said last time."

"What?" She stopped pacing.

"That's what you said last time." I repeated louder.

"But it's true! I would'nt lie to you, Fang. You believe that, right?"

Do I? I said, "Yeah."

Ella smiled, and changed to topic.

But... Do I really?

**Max**

"Yes! I win! Again." Will said, not sounding completely excited.

I blink. "What?" I look at the game and see he won. Again. "I mean, congrats! You won! Again...," my voice faded.

Will sighed. "Wanna do something else?"

I nod. "Yeah. Let's shoot some hoops."

We go to his garage to get his basketball. I nearly trip on something, but Will catches me. "Thanks. Guess I'm still as clumsy as ever.

He chuckles and kisses me. I wrap my arms around his neck. His lips are soft, his smell familiar, hair so- I get a sudden flash of someone other than Will's face on the inside of my eyelids. FANG.

I mentally shake my head. I'm kissing Will. WILL. Not Fang. Not that freaking emo wannabe boy that-

I pull back. I can't take it. I breathe in and out, in and out, in and-

"What is it, Max?"

I gulp. Crap, I'm gulping. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong. Everything's fine." And that's exactly the response you would get from someone who's trying too hard. AKA- Me.

Will sighed, letting me go. He took a couple steps back. "We- We're not feeling it anymore, are we."

"What?" I back up, shocked.

"You seem so out of it lately. You're bored of me now, huh."

I stare at Will. "You make me sound like..." I don't even need to finish that sentence.

He simply shrugs.

A bitter laugh bubbles out of me. "Do you even know me?"

"'Course I do. I was just hoping for this, rather than hearing you cheated on me."

"I did not." I deadpanned.

"You might as well have." Will shook his head. "Either way, you don't like me anymore. Right?" He scoffed. "Did you even like me to begin with?"

"Of course I did! I still do!" What's with him?

"Then what is it?" His voice raised.

"Nothing!" I match my voice to his.

He smashed his fist into the wall. "Damn it, Max! Who is it? I know you like somebody else. Don't even bother denying it. I can tell. So who is he?"

I stay silent. I'm completely paralyzed right now.

"Ace? No. He's pretty much obsessed with Astrea. Maybe L-" He stopped, his eyes darkening. "_Fang_. You like the Reynolds guy, don't you."

I gulp. (What's with the gulping?) "Will, I... Well he-"

"I'm right, aren't I." Will stated, more than asked.

I wearily nod. He curses.

"I'm sorry, Will, I-"

He ran past me and into his house, leaving me hanging. Alone. In his garage.

My eyes start to sting, and my throat burns.

I didn't want to hurt him. I really didn't. I may have hurt people before, but not like this. Not to someone like him; someone I really care about. He's too nice. Too sweet. Too Will.

Damn you, heart. Damn you, hormones.

Damn you, Fang.

**Fang**

Week two of detention. Max seems depressed.

"Nothing." She keeps mumbling, whenever I ask her what's wrong.

Sigh. How do I cheer her up?

"There was this guy I knew before I moved here," I started randomly, before I could stop myself. "He was bipolar or something. At least to me. We always got into fights. Other times, we got along fine. I didn't trust him." Why am I telling her this? It has nothing to do with... anything. "His name was..."

Max looked over and tilted her head.

"Ari Batchelder."

Her eyes widened at the name. "You know Ari?"

I blink. "You know Ari, too?"

"He's my cousin. Practically my brother. The brother I never had."

Okay. I didn't see that coming.

But somehow, mentioning Ari seems to be the right thing to mention. Max seems lighter, her voice not-so droopy.

And it stayed that way. She even laughed here and there. She told me about her cousin, Ari. Apparently he's no different to her than he is to me. Not that surprising.

"I can't believe you knew Ari. No wonder you're such a vampire." Max smirked.

"Watch your mouth, Maxerella."

She elbowed me. "And you, vampire."

I shake my head, a little grin creeping on my lips.

Man. I'm falling for her, aren't I? Crap. I think I am. But I shouldn't. 'Cause if I did?

Hell would break loose.

**Max**

"I can't believe it."

I snort. "Well you should. It's a true story."

Smurfie let out a breath, while Astrea looks stricken.

"I was right." Astrea stated.

"Yup."

She falls back onto my bed, sighing.

"Wow." Smurfie breathes. "Will. Of all people, WILL dumped you. And pretty badly. It wasn't pretty, right?"

No. It wasn't. He was completely un-Will. A heartbroken stranger.

"It's so sad! Right after your last kiss, too." Smurfie continued wistfully.

Oh yeah. Ironic, isn't it? One second we're making out. The next, we're done. Kapiche.

"Yup." I say again. "That's life."

"It's a sad world after all." Smurfie sings.

Ain't that the truth.

* * *

_**that was a pretty crappy chapter. kinda filler-ish, but its kinda important. **_

_**yeah. lolol i dont hav so much to say today. haha have you guys sung those weird camp songs before? lol i had to. all week. part of the reason why ive been busy and tired. not gonna bother explaining, since you people probably dont care. lol i wouldnt.**_

_**so hows life? good? bad?**_

_**and this chapter? good? bad? terrible? lol.**_

_**also, if you guys have any ideas for this story at all, even if it has nothing to do with my plan (though you guys dont know my plan for this story so..), go ahead and throw it all me (virtually).**_

_**thats all for now!**_

_**thanks a million for the reviews! keep it coming! i love reading what you guys say ;))**_

_**l8tr allig8trs,**_

_**zammielicious98**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**yay! i updated really soon! im pretty proud of myself.**_

_**disclaimer: yada yada i dont own blah blah not mine.**_

* * *

**Fang**

"Last day, Fangles. Can you handle it?"

"'Course I can. But can you?"

Max and I are on our way to Mr. Grinsby's. Yes, it's our last day of detention. The whole month of January has blown by.

"Better than you ever will."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Oh, you will, vampire. It'll blow your mind."

"Bring it, Maxerella."

The past month has been the greatest. One-on-one time with Max, without Ella or the Flock getting in the way. It just couldn't get better.

We got to Mr. Grinsby's house and he let us in, like he did the whole past month. We got our jobs and went on like that for and hour or so.

And finally, detention's over. For good.

"Bye Mr. Grinsby!" Max called to him as we walk out the door.

Mr. Grinsby flashed us a very very quick smile. One of those things you would miss if you blink at the wrong time.

He shut the door behind him and that was that.

"It's over." I state.

Max smiles. "Finally. I was getting pretty sick of seeds and dirt. I'm gonna stay away from gardens for a while."

I nod in agreement. I was about to say something, when someone calls my name. And it's not Max.

Max and I turn around and see the Flock waving at us (or just me). They run over to us.

"Hey man!" Dylan nudges me. "Let's go celebrate your after school freedom! Flock party at my house!"

The Twins nod excitedly. "Party!"

The girls giggle. Ella says, "You're free today anyways, right?"

I take a moment to look at the overly excited Flock. I'm about to say no to Ella. Say I'm busy. So I can celebrate with Max.

But then I realize that Max has already left.

Gazzy hops onto my back, making me break out of my thoughts. "Come on, Fang! Let's go!"

The Flock laughs and herds me toward Dylan's house.

All I can think of though, as the Flock chatters on about what we're gonna do, is Max.

Sigh.

* * *

**Max**

It's been a week since the last day of the garden detention. And I haven't spoken a word to Fang. But neither has he.

Is that it? We 'bond' or whatever through detention, and now that it's over, we just forget about it?

"Pick one."

"Um, three."

"One, two, three. Pick."

What? I zone back into reality, and see that Smurfie's playing the cootie catcher thing with Astrea.

Smurfie opens a flap of the thing. "You will get chocolate."

I laugh. Really loud. "'You will get chocolate'?"

Astrea joins me. "You realize, Smurfie, that you owe me chocolate now."

Smurfie pouts. "It's just a fortune! It doesn't mean I'm gonna give you whatever!"

"What else did you write?" I try to snatch the cootie catcher out of her hand, but she keeps it away from me.

"Your turn first."

I shrug. "Sure."

Smurfie does the whole thing again. She gets to opening the flap thing. "'You will get chocolate.'"

"Me too? Is that all you wrote?" I manage to snatch the thing out of her hand this time. Reading the 'fortunes', I choke on my laughs. "'You will meet a tree-hugger'? What the hell, Smurfie?" Astrea bursts out laughing.

"Hey! It's possible! I met one before." Smurfie says defensively.

I shake my head and hand it back to her. "Whatever you say, Smurfie.

* * *

**Fang**

_Splash!_

"Hey! Watch it!" Nudge cried, angrily throwing things at the Twins. Gazzy and Iggy decided to throw water balloons around. At least it's better than being bombed by real bombs. "Do you know how long it takes to get my hair this straight? Do you?! You don't know because you're a guy and guys are just lazy slobs who don't care what they look and-"

I tuned her out. No need to listen to her ranting. Although, even as I leave the Twins' basement and escape into their kitchen, her voice can still be faintly heard. Something about pink butterflies.

"Chillin' in the kitchen? Aren't you a cool cat."

Ella came in and sat down on the kitchen counter.

I shrug. I've been a little distant with Ella lately. "Nudge."

She nods. "Yeah, the Twins are being idiots. Same old, same old."

Yeah. But at least they're harmless. Most of the time.

"Are you mad at me?" Ella blurted.

"What?"

She shrugs. "I don't know, you've just been distant with me lately."

So she noticed. "Well..."

"Is it still because of that going away party thing? I'm sorry 'bout that."

To me. But not to Max.

Ella sighed. "You can talk you know."

"I know."

Silence.

"Why do you hate her so much?" I spat out, before I could stop myself.

"Who?"

"You know who."

More silence.

That's it. I turn around and start to leave the kitchen, when Ella grabs my arm.

I turn to face her. Her eyes are narrowed. "Fine. You want to know?"

I stiffly nod.

"Her and Dylan. Three years ago. Behind Angel's back."

Wait. Her and _Dylan_?

"Dylan always liked Max. But Max didn't feel anything beyond being friends with him. Then, of course, Angel. She had the hugest crush on him. It was all so messed up. Dylan ended up asking out Angel, and as you can see, they're still together."

No. That can't be... Max? And Dylan? That's just...

"So you see, if Max comes back to the Flock, Dylan might try something again. Or Angel might just find out about it, which would be bad enough. That's why we need to keep Max away. Okay?"

Not really. It's far from okay.

"But how is that-" I started to say, but then I realize that what she's saying is actually true. It explains some things Dylan's said and done before.

"Who else knows?" I ask, still shocked and completely out of it.

"Just me. And you. And obviously the two people we're talking about."

Max. Dylan. Dylan. Max. Max. Dylan. Dylan. Max.

Oh god.

* * *

**Max**

Today is the day I go VMSing: Valentine Misery Syndrom. The day the lovers go all head over heels with extra coatings of love, and cupid shoots everyone's little asses with heart-shaped arrows.

Cupid? You came kind of late. Will and I? It ain't no me and him anymore. Now you have one less arrow to shoot.

I'm walking through the halls to my locker with Astrea by my side. She's not a hater, but she's not in love. Smurfie however...

I get to my locker and see Smurfie waiting. I actually did a retake. "Smurfie?"

Smurfie grinned. "The one and only!" She gestured to her outfit. "Likey?"

I check her over. She's a completely pink-efied Smurf. The only other colour besides pink is her bright blue hair, that seems to stand out even more. "Um, sure?" I reply. Astrea nods.

"Come on! Get in the V-Day spirit!"

"Sorry. I'm VMSing." I say, tiredly.

Astrea adds, "I don't have much of an opinion on today. Though this year, as it is pretty much every year, it's Single's Day for me."

"But you're not as down as Maxie over here." Smurfie says, looking at me.

I shrug it off. "Whatever. We have to get to class." Not in the mood to get any more detentions. I've been detention free for pretty much two weeks. I plan on keeping it that way.

Smurfie looks at Astrea, then at me. "See you at lunch then?"

I nod. Those two have the morning classes together.

They glance at me again before they go off to class.

Huh. Guess I should get going too.

I open my locker-which took longer today-and I stop. I'm frozen. Paralysed. Gaping like a... thing that gapes.

There's a box. In my locker. Wrapped in pink and white.

To open, or not to open. That is the question. Seriously, should I open it?

Oh what the hell. It's too late now. I've torn open the box. Inside, wrapped in red wrapping paper, is a little teddy bear holding a red heart. It says 'Happy Valentine's Day' on it.

And theres a note tucked in between the heart and the bear. On the note, it says: _Smile, Maxerella._

There's no name, but it's signed with the Batman logo.

Oh. My. Freaking. Grandma.

_FANG?!_

* * *

"OMG! Who gave this to you? It's so cute!" Smurfie squealed, hugging the teddy bear. Beside her, Astrea is bouncing like a kid high on sugar.

Oh dear. "Um..."

"Fang?" Astrea whisper-yelled.

I bite my lip. Should I tell them? "Maybe."

Both of them squealed. This is so not like them. Stupid Valentine's Day.

"Okay, first of all, OW" I said, covering my ears. "Second, I have a problem."

"What? You're not happy with this?" Smurfie asked.

"No! I mean, yes! I mean- Whatever! I like this, okay? More than I ever thought I would like something as cheesy as this. But I'm not talking about that." I shove a little Hershey kiss across the table at them. "_This_ is the problem."

Smurfie and Astrea stare blankly at the Hershey kiss. They both said, "I don't get it," at the same time.

"It's not from Fang."

They blink. "Your mom, maybe?"

I give Smurfie a WTF look.

"Do you know who might've given it to you?" Astrea asks.

I nod. "Dylan." _Unfortunately._

Astrea's eyes widen. "You sure? But I thought-"

"Same here." I said, angrily. "That douche bag."

We stay silent for a bit. Then Smurfie spoke. "Hey, I was right. You _did_ get chocolate."

Astrea smacked her in the head, causing Smurfie to start whining and complaining.

Yeah, Smurfie. _But from the wrong person._

* * *

**Fang**

"What are you _wearing_?"

I'm staring at Dylan, who is wearing this ridiculous pink sweater thing.

"It's called a cardigan, Fang." He glares at me when I smirk.

"Angel got to you?"

Dylan let out a sigh. "Yeah."

I let out a chuckle. Figures, Angel would want Dylan to be all dressed up for Valentine's Day.

Everything is pink. It's disturbing. And I feel kind of awkward in my black. Who knew black would make you stand out?

Dylan's scratching his ass off. Apparently, his pink cardigan is really itchy. Sucks for him.

As you can see? I'm not staying clear of Dylan or anything. He's still my best man. Even if he and Max had a little moment together before.

But I realized that I don't care. It's not like Max is singing Want U Back to Dylan, so what have I got to stress about? Dylan is still my idiot best guy, dating the sweet and innocent Angel. And Max is still the amazing girl that I like.

"Dylan!" Angel came crashing into Dylan. "You're still wearing it! You're amazing." She got on tiptoes and gave Dylan a kiss. Dylan smiled and leaned in.

See? Still in love. Nothing for me to worry about.

* * *

**Max**

"Now class, please open your text books to page 342..."

Blah blah blah, I open my page. It's not like I'm reading it though. I'm not even listening to a single word Mrs. Whatever is saying.

_Psst._

Huh?

_Psst!_

When the teacher faces the board, I quickly look behind me. Some kid, who I didn't bother learning the name of, hands me a piece of paper.

I open it to find a phone number.

Okay? I type it into my phone and send a '?' to that number.

I get a reply back instantly.

_ENJOYING HISTORY, MAXERELLA?_

I choke, trying to hold back a laugh.

"Is there something wrong, Ms. Ride?"

"Nope."

Ohmigod, Fang just handed me his number. And now we're texting.

I send back a reply: AS IF. WHAT IS SHE EVEN TALKING ABOUT?

_DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M LISTENING TO HER?_

WELL I CAN'T REALLY TURN AROUND AND LOOK AT YOU.

_AW, BUT I BET YOU WANT TO STARE AT MY BEAUTIFUL FACE._

BEAUTIFUL? WHOEVER TOLD YOU THAT?

_YOU DID._

This time, I cough to cover my laugh. Mrs. What'sHerFace narrows her eyes at me, mentally telling me to shut up.

WHEN?

_IN YOUR MIND. I KNOW YOU'RE THINKING IT._

HA-HA. IN YOUR DREAMS, BUCKO.

_WHO'S BUCKO?_

I roll my eyes. We keep texting like that through class, until the bell rings. I grab my stuff and run out. THANKS FOR THE GIFT, BTW.

_FANG DOES NOT GIVE OUT GIFTS._

BUT APPARENTLY NICHOLAS DOES.

_I AM NOT NICHOLAS. I AM YOUR FATHER._

I laugh out loud this time. Some people stare at me, since I'm standing in a hallway and laughing in the middle of it is apparently considered weird.

BYE VAMPIRE.

_BYE MAXERELLA._

Just then, Fang and Nudge pass by me in the hallway. They didn't even glance at me.

So what now? Was he just bored out of his little mind? Am I just a charity case?

Bzz. _SEE YOU NEXT CLASS._

I let out a laugh and a big smile.

Valentine's Day ain't half bad.

* * *

**Fang**

I walk past Max, while Nudge blabs on about whatever to me.

_SEE YOU NEXT CLASS._ I send her.

I can faintly hear her beautiful laugh behind me.

I smile.

Happy Valentine's Day, Max.

* * *

_**kay so hope you enjoyed that!**_

_**sooo i updated soon this time. but my next update.. well this is my last week of camp. meaning im gonna be busy this week. so i may or may not be able to update before the weekend, but I WILL TRY. **_

_**just a heads up on that. but after, i should update a bit sooner.**_

_**lolol my sister is playing a lego harry potter wii game. is anyone a harry potter fan? im not! ive never read any of the books, but i saw both parts of the seventh movie (the deathly hallows). now that im watching my sis play this, i actually get what really happened in part one of the seventh movie. yeah. thats the random blab from me today!**_

_**byebyee for now,**_

_**-zammielicious98**_


	13. Chapter 13

Bzz. _GET UP._

Gar. Nobody wakes me up. Except maybe Fang.

I slowly raise my head off my desk, mentally cursing off Fang. The teacher hasn't noticed me sleeping. Well that's a fail.

"I have some announcements to make before you leave." Mrs. Seree said. "All eleventh graders will be going on a camping trip!"

Awkward silence. Then the intense whispering starts.

"There will be cabins and washrooms and a small cafeteria available! Everything else will be all natural. You must participate in all activities! This will help with team building and give everyone the chance to bond with the entire grade!" Mrs. Seree clapped her hands. "This trip will take place near the end of March! Please take a form and information sheet as you leave the classroom. Forms are due by March 1st!"

Great. A camping trip? With the entire grade?

Bzz. _THAT'LL BE FUN_.

Ha. SURE IT WILL.

_HEY, I'LL BE THERE._

SOMEBODY'S GOT A BIG HEAD.

_WHO, YOU?_

Shaking my head, I grab my stuff and head towards the door. Not before Mrs. Seree stuffs a yellow form in my face. "Make sure you show your parents!" What are I, three years old?

I run out the door before Mrs. Seree makes me put the form in my bag or whatever.

"Max!" Down the hall, I see Smurfie shoving her way through to me. "Did you get the form?" She waved the yellow sheet in the air.

"Unfortunately." I show her my yellow sheet as she approaches. Smurfie grins. "We're gonna have _so_ much fun!"

"Say what?"

"I said we're gonna have _so_ much fun!"

"Suuuure..." I'm optimistic, I know.

Smurfie pouts. "Max! Relax a bit! The three of us - you, Astrea, and me - are gonna rock the place!"

I guess that's true. This could be fun. Besides, it gives me an excuse to get away from my house for a couple days. Roland's been over a lot more. And now JJ's getting in on the whole 'joint family' shabam. So a camping trip with friends? Good idea.

Oh wait. "How much is this trip?"

Smurfie scans the yellow forms. "Uh, since it's a week-long trip, and plus the bus ride and all the cabins and food and stuff we're gonna do... three hundred fifty dollars."

"You're kidding." I deadpanned.

"Nope. See?" She shows me the price printed on the form. Damn.

"That's kind of... a lot of money." I muttered.

Smurfie's mouth forms an 'O' as she realizes my little family money problem. "Maybe I could lend you some...?"

"Thanks Smurfie, but no way am I letting you do that."

"We could raise some money for the trip." Astrea shows up beside us. "Get a part-time job, walk a dog, sell stuff..."

She's a genius.

"I know I am." Astrea says, as if she read my mind. For all I know, she might've.

Smurfie jumps. "My parents could give you a job!"

Uh... "Where do you're parents work?"

"The hospital!"

My jaws drop. "The _hospital?_"

I don't know what I expected, but he hospital was not on my list.

"Didn't expect that, did you." Astrea smirks and elbows me.

"So she's not kidding?" I stare at Smurfie, who's grinning like a maniac.

"Nope!" Astrea giggles.

Hospital. I hate hospitals. But it's for the sake of the trip... no matter how stupid.

"Alright. I'm in."

* * *

**Fang**

"CAMP TIME!" Iggy hollered. Gazzy cackled and high-fived his twin.

"It's going to be epic!" Gazzy fist-pumped.

Dylan shook his head, but laughed along with the twins.

I have pretty much no opinion on this trip. I don't even see the point of it. Do they know how old we are? We're old enough to be camp counsellers. But no, we're being forced into being the campers.

"We're gonna rock the cabins!"

"Skinny-dipping at night!"

"Pig outs!"

"Pranks..." Iggy and Gazzy shared a devious look and cackled together. Those two...

"Skinny-dipping? Count me out." I said.

Gazzy pouted. "Fang! Where's the fun in that?"

Where's the fun in skinny-dipping? I don't say that, but it's true.

This sucks more because it's a mandatory trip. If we don't go, they're gonna fail us or something. Which doesn't make any sense, right? Yeah, I know.

"I wonder if the cabins are co-ed..." Gazzy pondered. Dylan wacked him in the head. "Don'g be stupid, Gazzy."

Wait. Since everyone has to go... Max will be there, right? Too bad the Flock's gonna be there. But come on, we're teenagers. It's in our blood to sneak around.

The trip might just be fun.

* * *

**Max**

_Thump. Thump_. "Max? You okay?" Smurfie continues to thump my back.

Why? 'Cause I managed to choke on the smell of the hospital. Yes, the smell of a hospital is enough to make me cough my guts out. I probably look like an idiot, standing by the hospital entrance, hacking up whatever I have in me.

"Thanks Smurfie," I cough out. "I'm good." Somewhat. I think. Maybe.

Smurfie stood up straight. "Okay! Let's go find my parents."

I let out a breath. Toughen up, Max. You can't be such a wuss. It's just a hospital. No matter how bad it smells.

"Okay."

Smurfie and I walk down several hallways. I swear we're lost, but Smurfie's determined that we're going the right way.

"Now we just have to pass a-" Smurfie stopped. "Where's the green sign?"

Facepalm. "We're lost."

"No..." I can pretty much hear the question mark at the end of that sentence.

"Let's just ask somebody for help." I mumbled.

We go down a couple more hallways, before we found someone in a whitecoat.

"Hello! I'm Smurfie, and this is my friend-"

"We're lost."

The lady in the whitecoat smiled. She smells like hospitals. "Where are you headed?"

"Well we were just going around and then we took some wrong turns and-"

"Dr. Landrie."

The lady smiled again. "I was just about to go see them. Follow me."

She's creeping me out. Too smiley. But we follow anyway. It beats being lost in this hospital.

After even more hallways, we find a room. We see a doctor and a familiar looking girl on the bed.

We walk in. "Dr. Landrie? You have some visitors." The creepy smiley lady said.

Dr. Landrie turns her head to us and grins. "Smurfie! Max! Glad to see you made it." She turns to the girl on the bed. "We'll go over your test results in a bit. Meanwhile, rest up as much as you can, Maya."

_Maya_. So that's why she looks so familiar. Ella's darling sister's in the hospital.

Smurfie's mom takes us outside, leaving the creepy smiley lady inside with Maya.

"So Max, is this your first time working at a hospital?"

"Yes." And hopefully my last.

Dr. L smiled. "Since you aren't certified as anything, you will only be helping me and Smurfie's father. We will also be the ones paying you."

Huh. So turned out, Smurfie really is giving me the money for the trip. Except this way, I'm actually earning it. Makes me feel less needy.

"All right, I'm going to give you your first job. Just as a start, you - and Smurfie, if she wants to - can sort the giant piles of paper on my desk in my office. Smurfie's father has his own office beside mine, and if he's okay with it, you can help sort through his things too. My pile of papers need to be sorted by date." Dr. L looked at her watch. "I must get on with my patient, but I'm sure Smurfie can show you the way-"

"We got lost last time." I cut in, before Smurfie decided to happily agree.

Dr. L laughed. "I had a feeling you did. Smurfie is always at least ten minutes late, whenever she's called to us."

Go figure. And Smurfie says she knows the place.

"I'll get the nurse to take you." Dr. L went back into the room. A minute later, the creepy smiley lady came out. And yeah, she's smiling.

"I didn't get to formerly introduce myself earlier." The lady said. "I'm Anne, a registered nurse here at St. Luke's Hospital."

A what-nurse? Okay? "Um, I'm Max."

"And I'm Smurfie! That was my mom." Smurfie pointed toward the door that her mom went into.

'Anne' made a shocked face. "Dr. Landrie is your mother?" And guess what? She smiled. "She is a lovely woman and doctor. So is your father. You should be very proud."

Smurfie grinned back. I guess I'm the only one who thinks this lady is creepy. "Thank you!"

I clear my throat. "I need to start working, so if we could go...?"

"Ah, yes. To Dr. Landie's office." Anne spun around on her freaky clean white nurse shoes, and headed down the hallway.

Ugh. More hallways. More hospital smells. More creepy smiley ladies.

This better be worth it.

* * *

**Fang**

DO YOU LIKE HOSPITALS?

Leave it to Max to ask the random questions.

I reply anyway. _HATE THEM. MAKES ME SICK_.

SAME HERE. IM AT THE HOSPITAL RIGHT NOW.

What? Is she okay? She seemed fine when I saw her at school...

I guess I accidentally sent '_WHAT?_' to her. I don't even know how I managed to accidentally send that.

AWW YOU WORRIED ABOUT ME? THATS CUTE. IM HERE FOR A JOB.

Phew. Okay. She's fine. She's-

_WHAT?_

I NEED MONEY TO PAY FOR THE TRIP. I CANT GROW MONEY ON A TREE.

Right. I forgot about her little family issues. Oh look, I sent '_WHAT?_' again. Max probably thinks I'm an idiot.

YOU NUTHEAD.

Close enough.

_WHY WORK AT THE HOSPITAL?_ Finally, a decent reply from me.

CUZ SMURFIE'S PARENTS WORK THERE. THEYRE LIKE IN CHARGE OR SOMETHING. SO THEYRE PAYING ME TO SORT PILES OF PAPER AND STUFF.

_WELL THATS FUN._

HA.

If I had any money to give her, I would. Although, knowing Max... She'd probably tell me to shove it up my ass and say she can handle it.

I'm sure she can. She's Max.

* * *

"All trip forms are due tomorrow!" Mrs. Seree called after us, as everyone scattered out of the classroom.

IM A HUNDRED DOLLARS SHORT.

_THAT DOESNT SOUND TOO GOOD._

CUZ ITS NOT.

Is it even possible to earn a hundred dollars in one afternoon?

ITS FINE. MY MOM CAN PAY SOME. MAYBE ROLAND COULD HELP.

Huh.

* * *

**Max**

"December 18, 2011."

"January 9, 2012."

"January 14, 2012."

"February 3, 2012."

"February 4," Smurfie paused and frowned. "2009."

I groan. "Start over."

"Again." Smurfie sighs. "Where's Astrea?"

"Family, remember?" We asked Astrea at school this morning, but she said her aunt and uncle are visiting with her newborn cousin.

"Oh yeah..." Smufie slumped back against her mom's office chair. "This isn't really the 'hospital' work you expected, is it."

"Nope." But it sure beats having to look at bloody deformed people. So I'm good. "It's fine. Your mom gave us an easy job. No biggie."

We look at each other for a second, then start cracking up. Sorting papers by date is a pain. If this is considered easy? I don't want to know what 'hard' is.

"Alright, let's start a-"

The door creaked open and a head popped in. "Hi girls! I have to end work early today to go over some paperwork. So you two have to leave soon."

"Oh."

Smurfie's mom comes in and looks at our brilliant sorting job. She says it's fine, and she'll pay me extra since today is the last day before I have to hand in the forms tomorrow.

She's too nice. Dr. L gave me forty bucks for my terrible sorting means my mom only has to pay sixty.

Looks like I can really go on this trip.

Smurfie seems to have realized this too, so she jumped onto my back and cheered.

"YAY!"

* * *

_**yeah yeah its a filler. and it sucks. but i feel the need to post this bcuz i dont wanna just be bouncing around from a day to a month later. and this is here to make that transition into March. **_

_**its a sucky chapter, i know. **_

_**SO SORRY for the week delay. my camp finally ended, then as the weekend came, well i had to help w the redoing of my room. im getting it newly painted and the furniture changed around.. yeah. and its my room, so i kinda had to help out.**_

_**BUT the next chapter is already started, so it should be up soon. and to make it up for not posting for a week, the next chapter will be up either tomorrow or the day after (Tuesday). **_

_**and THANK YOU EVERYONE for the lovely reviews :))**_

_**now, lastly.. time for my random blab.**_

_**who was your favourite disney princess as a kid? i used to LOVE Ariel.. hell, shes still my fave xD lol i love her redheadedness and the fact that shes a mermaid.. i always had some obsession with mermaids and fairies as a kid. fairies..the Flock... see a connection there? ;)) so yeah. omg i love jasmine too. and the mulan movies. but i hate poccahontas.. lol.**_

_**kay so thats all from me!**_

_**(for now...xD)**_

_**-zammielicious98**_


	14. Chapter 14

**_ooh kay so i said i would update yesterday, but i was legit painting my room ALL day. i have the aches to prove it. lol well at least i made this chappie pretty long_****,****_ if that counts for anything_**

_**lol anyways, enjoy! ;)**_

_**disclaimer: never owned MR, never will**_

* * *

**Max**

"Welcome to Camp Fun!"

That's not what the camp person said. What they actually said was:

"Welcome to Camp Fun!"

Say what?

"She's not serious, is she?" I whispered to Astrea.

I could see her shoulders shaking. "Oh, she is."

What have I gotten myself into?

* * *

**Fang**

"Welcome to Camp Fun!"

Sounds like fun. I glance at Dylan and he smirked. We're both thinking the same thing: What kind of retard named this camp?

He elbowed me. "Man, this is gonna be interesting."

"You think?"

Suddenly a high-pitched static sounded. Everyone covered their ears and started complaining.

"Sorry 'bout that, everyone!" The camp lady smiled, adjusting her little headset mic. "Okay! Is everybody ready to have some fun?"

A dull murmur of responses were said. The camp lady continued to smile, though. "My name is Lucy, but here at camp, everyone calls me Lollipop! Lollie for short."

I mentally snort at that. This lady is crazy.

For some unexplainable reason, I glance over at Max, who is standing a couple feet in front of me. I see she's trying to calm down her Smurf friend, who I'm guessing is excited that there's someone else who is just as crazy as she is.

Lollie continued to speak. "First things first, let's get you all to your cabins! Follow me!" She turned around and gestured for us to follow. Everyone trails behind her, backpacks and bags bumping into everything, mouths chattering away.

Behind me, I can hear the Twins whispering rapidly. A prank of some sort, I bet.

"-and then we need the... Do you think the kitchen is open? We could sneak in and use the oven. Or take the microwave. Would that work?-"

I don't wanna know. I'll just see how their pranks turns out.

"Stop!" I turn my attention to Lollie. She smiled. "Here are your cabins for the next few days! Your names will be posted on the door of your cabins. There will be twelve people per cabin. I will give you twenty minutes to find your cabins and settle. Then, you are all to meet here for our first activity."

Mrs. Seree stepped up. "To make the finding of cabins easier, we placed all the males on the far side over there, and all the ladies on this side."

A chorus of groans responded. Mrs. Seree shook her head and stepped back. "You have twenty minutes starting now."

The crowd of juniors rampage toward the cabins. I can hear some people screaming out that they found their cabins.

Somehow, I managed not to lose sight of Dylan or the Twins in the crowd of over-excited teenagers.

First guys cabin up ahead. Dylan ran up the little steps to the door. After skimming through the sheet of names, he shook his head and ran back down.

The next cabin... There's a crowd of guys trying to get in. I have a feeling that's not our cabin.

We went past another cabin before we found the one with our names (and a couple other guys'). Sweet, this cabin's pushed back more, into the little forest behind the cabins. This could be useful...

"I call top!" Iggy shouted and ran inside. Gazzy whined and ran after Iggy.

Dylan grinned and stepped through the door; me following behind him.

So Lollie said twelve guys per cabin, right? There's four of us, and as I walk in the cabin, I see six other guys lounging on their beds. Guess we still have two more roommates.

I don't really know any of these guys, except for Sam (the big party guy). The rest are probably Sam's buds.

"Hey." Dylan greeted the other guys, dropping his bag on a lower bunk. That means I get the top. I throw my bag onto the top bunk and leave it there. I'll deal with it later.

The bunk beds beside us, I see Gazzy clawing at the top bunk, while Iggy rolls around laughing. Watch him fall off. Maybe I shouldn't jinx that.

I check my cell; it's been about ten minutes. So we still have tenore minutes to kill. Time to meet my cabinmates.

Dylan seems to have realized this already. "I'm Dylan."

One of the guys on the top bunks spoke. He has shaggy light brown hair. "We know." He shifted his green eyes to me. "And you're Fang. And those idiots over there? Iggy and Gazzy. The Lighty crew."

We're a little more well-known than you'd think.

"So you guys are Ashers?"

The blond guy on the bunk below the green-eyed guy nodded. "'Course Except Sam over there." He stood up. "Blake. That's my buddy Kyle." Blake pointed to the green-eyed guy above him.

I nodded. I glance at Sam, who's slumped on one of the top bunks. Wonder why he hasn't- Oh. He's asleep.

Blake pointed that out, too. "I'm sure you all know Sam, since he's a Lighty. He's asleep."

He introduced us to Sam's bunk buddy, Jay, and the last two: Riley and Tristan.

Just as Blake finished, two guys - barged into the cabin. They froze when they saw us.

I tilt my head, frowning a bit. They look familiar. I think one of them thought so too, since his eyes hardened on me. Ouch, when did I make an enemy?

The other guys seem to know them. Blake grinned. "Ace! Will! Join the party."

Will. Will. Will? Will... WILL.

Max's ex. Damn, this is gonna be weird.

Will and Ace put their bags down on the last bunk bed left. Ace grinned like Blake and started goofing around with them. Dylan managed to join in, and so did the Twins.

That leaves the sleeping Sam, angry Will, and the unfortunate me.

Damn it.

* * *

**Max**

I'm crossing my fingers. Please, don't let any Lightys - particulary a certain trio - be a part of this cabin.

I guess I can just go and read the list on our door, right? But I'm too lazy and comfortable on my bunk. The top one, by the way. I got Astrea to get a bottom, since Smurfie wants a top too.

Astrea, Smurfie, and I are the first ones in this cabin. Now we have to wait for nine other girls to show up.

Oh look, here comes five of them right now.

I'll be honest. I don't recognize anyone. Then again, I'm not really a social butterfly. Or a social ant. I stick in packs and stay in them.

The five girls put bags down on beds of their own. One of them glanced at us, and placed her bag down on the bottom bunk below Smurfie's. Smurfie grinned. I guess they know each other...?

"That's Scarlett. We were on the volleyball team together." Smurfie answered my unasked question.

Below me, Astrea spoke. "That blonde girl across from us is Tara, and above her is Jacy. Beside them, the Asian girl is Sarah, and below her is Alexa."

I feel so out of it. Astrea and Smurfie pretty much know all of them.

Whatever. I have more important stuff to do. Like crossing my fingers until they turn purple.

And here comes four girls. My hopes are rising.

Yes! I don't know them! Wait, is that JJ?

She seems to have seen me too. She grinned brightly. "Max! OMG we're in the same cabin? That's great!" JJ put her bag down at a bed and her three friends did the same. Then she came skidding over to me and Astrea's bed.

"'Kay so meet Lara, Alyssa, Zoe, and Molly." JJ pointed to each. Then she squealed. "This is so great! I-"

"Time to go!" Astrea sprung out of her bed. Smurfie and I did the same. "Sorry JJ. We'll catch up later." The three of us ran out.

"Astrea, you are too amazing."

She winked. "I know."

Turns out though, twenty minutes really did pass.

* * *

**Fang**

"Hey." I said. Normally, I don't start the conversation. But just to be on the safe side, I might as well not get him pissed.

"Fang." Will said steadily.

"The cabin's nice." The manliest thing I've ever said. Right there.

Will glared at me. He didn't even have to speak. His eyes said it all.

So it's true. Max really did end with him because of-

"Boys! Time's up!" Mrs. Seree's voice rang out from outside our cabin.

"Shit, let's go." Dylan ran out the door. I glance at the Twins, and we follow.

Lollie smiled as we approached. "We almost started without you! Better keep a track of time next time!" She clapped her hands. "Everyone, turn around and say hi to Teddy, Buzz, and Sugar!"

Nobody really said anything to the two guys and a girl coming toward our group.

Lollie smiled at them. "We are going to be splitting you all into four groups, led by one of us."

They decided to divide us up by cabins. Fortunately? I got put with Max's cabin. Unfortunately: I'm also stuck with Ella's cabin. And Lollie.

"Alright! My group, follow me!" Lollie shouted.

Not like we have a choice. She led us down to a lake. A fairly big lake. Lollie stopped a couple feet away from the lake.

"To start off our first day at camp, we will play a team building game!"

This can be both a good thing or a bad thing.

* * *

**Max**

"Okay! This game is called Island Escape! I will put you into six teams of six. The object of the game is to cross the lake to the other side." Mrs. Seree gestured to the lake. "Each team will have two inflatable boats. Nobody is allowed to touch the water. If somebody falls in, or dips any body part in the water, the team must start over. First team to finish will recieve lunch first." She clapped her hands.

Then she splits us into teams. She looked down at a clipboard that I didin't noticed she even had until now. "Blake, Nudge, Lucy, Scarlett, Fang, and Maximum."

"It's Max."

"I know, Maximum." She smiled. Ha, no. You don't. I just roll my eyes. And of course, Fang saw me do that. He smirked at me.

"Astrea, Ace-" Ace grinned like a maniac; Astrea groaned. "-William, Angel, Sam, and Gray."

She named three other teams, then, "Gazzy, Dylan, Sarah, Smurfie, Delaney, and Ella."

Oh joy. Smurfie looked over at me, her eyes slightly wide. Yeah. Have fun there, Smurfie.

All the teams headed over to the edge of the lake, by all the yellow floaty boats.

"Ready?" Mrs. Seree raised her hand. "Go!" She swung her hand down.

And let the chaos begin.

* * *

**Fang**

"Get in!" Nudge rushed us all in.

"No shit. How else are we supposed to get across?" Blake smirked. Max snickered.

Nudge glared. "Shut it, whoever you are. And Max, I wouldn't be talking if I were you."

"I never even said a word, thanks."

Angrily, Nudge opened her mouth, but before she tries to say anything, I put my hand over her mouth. "Anybody want to at least try to finish this?" I gestured with my other hand at the other teams.

Our whole team froze, then - silently - started working at grabbing the other floaty and moving it over and in front of us.

Once we got moving a bit, people started talking. It was more of the 'move over!', 'hey!', and 'you're in my way!' kind of stuff.

We got to around the middle of the lake, when of course, we screw up.

"Blake. You?"

"Max." She glanced briefly at me, then started talking to Blake.

I look at the rest of my group. Lucy and Scarlett are chatting away, the way girls do, and then there's Nudge, glaring at Max, while sneaking glances at Blake.

Not good.

"Max, help me move this." I said casually to Max.

She shrugged and helped me move the floaty safely. Blake was about to come over and help too, but then Nudge shot out in front of Blake.

"I'm Nudge."

"Cool. I'm Blake."

Nudge smiled and tried to chat him up. I don't exactly know what happened, since when Max is right beside me... Well anyways, one second, Nudge is smiling at Blake, the next?

"BLAKE! Ahh! My hair!"

Yeah. She fell in the lake.

A whistle blew from somewhere. "Team One! Start over!"

Max swore under her breath. "Nudge, get your skinny ass back in the boat. I'm hungry."

Blake smirked. Nudge glared. Lucy and Scarlett stared at Nudge, but then continued to chat.

Man, this sucks.

* * *

**Max**

"Shut UP, Max!" Nudge shrieked.

I rolled my eyes. "I said, I'm hungry. Now get in here before you have to face a starved Max."

Nudge's eyes slightly widened. She continued to glare at me, but actually got in the boat. Good girl.

"Come on. Let's keep going."

We continue to do what we did for however long, moving one boat, hopping into it, moving the other boat, and so on.

Near the shore, Nudge managed to almost trip me. I saw almost, since I only got wet up to my knees. My sneakers and socks are soaked and squishy.

Poor feet. The wet and squishiness of my shoes aren't very comforting.

I glare at Nudge. This girl sure has it in for me, doesn't she. "Watch it, Nudge." I cock my head. "Besides, your hair can only stand so much lake water, right?"

Nudge's hands instantly went to her precious hair. "Stay away, Maximum."

"What's with the full name, Nudgey?" Her glare hardened at the name I called her. It was a name that only I ever called her when we were younger. Back in the innocent days. "Just leave me the hell alone, okay? I want my food, and you want your hair stuff. Call it a truce and let's get this over with."

Nudge stared at me, but stayed silent. Well, I guess that little speech worked. I'm pretty proud of myself.

So in the end, we came in last. Meaning we had to wait twenty minutes to get our food. That just pissed me off even more.

"Calm yourself, Maxerella. You got your food now." Fang whispered in my ear, as he past by my table. I shake my head at him.

My stomach growled. I dive into my food.

Smurfie, who's sitting across from me, leaned forward. "So how was your group?"

I glare at her. "I came in last, remember? That's why I'm just starting to eat, while you two are almost done."

"Hehe," Smurfie grinned. "You know, that Gazzy kid? He's pretty amusing."

I almost choke on pizza. "You think he's _what?_"

She shrugged. "Well he was on my team, right? And he was really funny."

I blink. I turn to Astrea, sitting innocently beside me. "Did she already tell you this?"

Astrea nodded. "While you were angrily mumbling about how you were gonna shave of Nudge's head."

Oh. Wait. "Does that mean Smurfie...?"

A sly grin appeared on Astrea's lips. "It seems that way."

"Hello? I'm right here!" Smurfie waved her arms in front of us. "And I do not! I just said he was funny."

I arch a brow. "Just funny, you say."

"But what you really mean, is..." Astrea finished, the sly grin still plastered on her face.

Smurfie wailed. "You guys!" She crossed her arms and pouted. "Meanie bums."

I laugh. "Whatever you say, Smurfie."

She opened her mouth, but was cut off by a pizza crust smacking onto her head. "Ow?" Smurfie lifted up the pizza crust.

Astrea and I look at each other for a second, before we hear snickering coming from across the lunch room. All our heads whip toward the snickering table.

Oh surprise, surprise. Darling little Gazzy threw that lovely piece of pizza crust onto Smurfie's precious head. He has good aim.

Now the boys' snickering have turned to full blown laughing.

Smurfie narrows her eyes at Gazzy: her target. She grabs her garlic bread, takes a bite out of it, smothers it in mustard - where the hell did that come from? - and chucked the disgraceful garlic bread at Gazzy. Oh look, it hit him.

Jeez, these people have good aim.

Gazzy spun around, mustard-covered garlic bread on his head, and stared at Smurfie. Then he yelled, "FOOD FIGHT!"

Food flew around everywhere from every direction. Astrea and I shared a look and ducked under our table. Not before something slimy hit the side of my face.

Ha-ha Smurfie. Gazzy sure is funny.

* * *

_**omg. skool is starting soon! :o**_

_**im probably gonna start getting busy, as im sure everyone will too..**_

_**i'll try my best to update tho! **_

_**lol even tho summer is passing... i LOVE fall! my favourite season ^.^ ooh and halloween is getting closer! (haha.. two months, but watever) i wonder if im gonna have to dress up this year... xD ahh i love dressing up tho! when i was younger, i had this uber cute Ariel costume! it was hard to walk around in.. cuz the long skirt ('tail') part was tight like a mermaids so walking was hard. but ong i LOVED that costume XD**_

_**aha. random blab of the day!**_

_**Review pour moi!**_

_**-zammielicious98**_


	15. Chapter 15

**_ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh omg sorry for the lateness... blame my first week back to skool. and my empty _****_brain._**

**_disclaimer: not mine not mine not mine not miiiiinneee!_**

* * *

**Fang**

I may be one of the most silent people in this world, but even this is annoying.

After Gazzy and Smurfie's food fight, the whole cafeteria went crazy. And it wasn't long before one of the teachers noticed and did something about it…

Mrs. Seree, followed by Ms. Laye and Mr. Garser, came storming in. Man, Mrs. Seree's face was priceless! She had a bright red face and I swear, she had smoke coming out of her ears.

"Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!"

The whole cafeteria froze. It was really weird.

Mrs. Seree took a couple heavy breaths. "This is unacceptable! Somebody explain this unexplainable behaviour!"

No one spoke. I could see Gazzy and Smurfie glance at each other briefly, as Mrs. Seree's deadly gaze swept across the room.

"Fine. If nobody steps up to take responsibility for this... despicable behaviour, everyone will be sitting out of activities for the rest of the day!" She raised her chin up. "We will reassess at dinnertime."

Still, nobody said anything. Mrs. Seree said something inaudible to the other teachers, who then gathered everyone up.

As everyone walked out the door, Mrs. Seree wrinkled her nose. "Mandatory showers for everyone!"

So after everyone got a turn at the shower, we all had to gather in this giant barn-like building.

Now, we're sitting ducks. No one is allowed to speak; nobody has bothered to try and see what would happen.

I check the clock hanging on the wall: 4:42. Damn. How long are the teachers gonna make us stay like this?

One glance at Mrs. Seree's still-red face says it all.

* * *

**Max**

I'm getting restless. So much, it's not even funny. I've changed sitting positions a million times already. I made weird faces at myself (some dude I don't really know stared at me weirdly for that). I twidled my thumbs, flexed my fingers, made weird shapes, whatever. I've done all and every single possible thing there is to do at a time like this.

I hate it. Mrs. Seree and her red face can go die.

Maybe that's a little harsh. But I'm really not in the mood to be all nice. Especially to the one whose making me stay in this weird, smelly barn. All silent. And crowded.

Oh, did I mention I'm feeling claustophobic, too? I didn't? Well I just did. And I'm feeling it bad.

Now I'm literally bouncing. I can't take this anymore.

I stand up. "I did it, okay? I'm the nasty troublemaker. Now can we please get out of here?" Wow, I said please. See how desperate I am? Maximum Ride is never desperate. She can handle herself and needs no extra help. She is talking in third person again. She hasn't done this in a while.

Mrs. Seree narrows her eyes at me. "Detention with me for a week once we get back to school."

Seriously? Wow... It's like those buttons at Staples: That was easy.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Smurfie, Gazzy, and hell, even Fang, opening their mouths. I quickly shoot them a 'you better stay silent' glare. They did. Good.

Someone clears their throat. "Thank you Max for stepping up. Because of this, everyone can get back to their activities." Mrs. Seree turned to the camp leaders. "We can start off from where we left off."

The leaders nodded. Lollie spoke first. And guess what else she did? She smiled. "My group, let's go!"

Everyone took their time, but eventually we all got out of the barn.

I let out a breath. "Fresh air!"

Astrea smiles. "Amazing, right? That barn is..."

"Devastating. Suffocating. Down-right horrible." I finished.

Someone nudged me. "I'm so sorry, Max!" Smurfie whispered.

I shrug. "Don't sweat it. Detention is nothing."

Smurfie shook her head. "No. I'll talk to Mrs. Seree or something. I can't let you do this."

"Hey, really, I chose to do this, didn't I?" I said. Although it was mainly because of the fact that I was dying in there. But as the cliche saying goes: Desperate calls for desperate measures.

She nodded. "Yeah, but-"

"But that's it. I'll take the detention and you and Gazzy just stay out of trouble. Until this camp crap is over."

Huh. It's funny, how I said I wanted to stay away from detention for as long as I can. And here we are, except I _chose_ to do this.

The irony kills me.

Bz. I glance around me to see if there's any teachers around. Normally I wouldn't give a poop about it. But really, one week of detention is enough, don't you think?

_YOU OKAY?_ Aw, Fangles cares.

SURE. IM NOT THE VAMP. YOU ARE. Get it? Vampires aren't alive so they wouldn't be okay and all and... yeah. I don't know.

Fangles seems to get it. _HAHA. UNDEAD OR NOT, IM NOT TRYING TO GET MY ASS BACK INTO DETENTION._

I AINT TRYING HERE, BUDDY.

_MY BAD. IT LOOKED LIKE IT IN THERE._

I WAS DESPERATE.

_MAX RIDE DESPERATE? GASP!_

I roll my eyes. How I ever became friends with such a ridiculous vampire, I really don't know.

Suddenly everyone stopped moving. Being me, I didn't notice until _after_ I ran into someone: Lollie.

Lollie beamed. "We have a volunteer!"

Woah. Hunger Games moment.

A weak laugh escaped from me. "I'd rather not..."

"Don't be silly!" Well, I'm not.

"Alright, campers!" Lollie continued, turning to face the group. "After sitting around for so long, we're going to play another active game! This one is called Relay Lock Race!"

She explained to us that we'll be getting into partners. The pair has to link arms while back-to-back. Hands have to be on their stomach the whole time. When she yells 'Go', everyone, with their partners, has to make it over the finish line.

The worst part? Lollie's choosing the partners. Our idiot leader better not put me with anyone that I'd rather murder than cooperate with or else I-

And Lollie did it. She is trying to kill me. Me and my partner.

"What?! Her?! Again?! Lollie! Can I please get another partner? One that doesn't smell? And won't threaten my hair?"

Yes, folks. My darling partner is the one and only... Nudge. Again.

Lollie shook her head. "Don'y be silly, girls! The whole point of these games are to help you work together as a team!"

I think jail is more comforting than this. I'll take my chances, then.

I glance over to Astrea and Smurfie. Ooh. Astrea's stuck with the Empress of Bitchiness. ELLA.

On the other hand, Smurfie's got it good. The smurf and the vampire. Interesting.

Lollie blew a whistle. "On your marks!" Everyone got in line and linked arms back-to-back. Everyone except Nudge and I. "Get ready! And..." Lollie blew the whistle again. "Go!"

Screams and laughter rang around us, as the rest of the pairs actually went beyond the starting line. I'm haven't moved an inch. Neither has Nudge. Hell, Nudge refuses to even get near me. Sure, she doesn't like me. She made that very clear. But since when did she become a drama queen as well? And that squealing... It's gotta be illegal to make such deadly high-pitched sounds.

Lollie sighs. "Come on, girls. You won't get anywhere if you just stand there. And you two won't ever get along by standing here avoiding each other."

Like it's that simple. "You don't know anything."

"But I do know that standing here doing nothing isn't going to solve anything."

"Playing the game isn't exactly much help either." I said.

I turn to Nudge. "And you. What the hell is your deal? I get that you hate me. The feeling is perfectly mutual. But your extra sprinkle of bitchiness is _really_ getting on my nerves."

Nudge crossed her arms. "Good."

"So is your hair. Would you mind if I chopped it off? It's so long and perfect."

I get a gasp, a glare, and then the hand-shielding-hair thing. Nudge seethes, glaring full out at me.

(While somewhere in the background, Lollie tries to settle us and tell us not to be 'mean' or swear – in my case – and to try the activity.)

I step toward the angry (and very protective of hair) Nudge. "So why the bitchiness? Don't tell me you're PMSing. That's ridiculous."

She paused for a moment. Then she flips her hair in that annoying preppy way, and smirks at me (in that 'Queen Bitch' way). "Why do you think I'm so popular? And, well, you're not?"

"'Cause you're a bitch?" Honestly, how many freaking times have I said 'bitch' in the last couple minutes?

Nudge smiles; not the friendly kind, but the 'I'm right, bitch, and you're not' kind. "Exactly."

I legitimately face-palm. "Are you high?"

"What?"

"GIRLS!" Somebody shrieked. Nudge and I both whip our heads to face Lollie, who's currently pink-faced and panting her mouth off.

…Okay, that just sounds weird.

Lollie looked at us both, and I swear she has tears in her eyes. "Girls, please! Try and get along! And just try and put up with each other long enough to finish this activity!"

Nudge said, "No! Ew! I don't want anything to do with this Lighty drop-out! Do you even know what that is? A complete loser. That's who she is. Like those lonely ducks you see in ponds. No one else but them in a lonely little pond, eating whatever lonely ducks eat! I hate ducks. Like I hate this freak you're making me put up with. I think I'd prefer a duck. Ducks at least don't squawk. Wait, those are roosters or something. Or peacocks? Ooh, what I don't hate is Katy Perry's song, _Peacock_. I can't ever hate it, even though it's been out forever now and-"

"STOP IT!" Lollie exploded. Nudge immediately shut her mouth. Smart idea, because if oh-too-jolly camp leaders (with a name like Lollie) is exploding in your face? Yeah, just don't do anything stupid.

I think Lollie really is crying this time. "JUST DO THE ACTIVITY! PLEASE! It's not that hard! I don't care if you hate each other! Just do the damn activity! Please! Please… Plea-" And she breaks down.

What is it with everyone today? Angry tomato-head teachers, bitchy drama queens, bipolar camp leaders… Everyone's crazy.

And to top it off, some random axe murderer in a monkey suit is going to kill us all, right?

Then we'll all live happily ever after. The end.

Or not.

* * *

**Fang**

"Faster! Come on, Mr. Fang, _faster_!" Smurfie laughed.

She's an odd child. She's been calling me 'Mr. Fang' throughout this whole race.

In an imaginary 'lane' beside us, Smurfie's friend Astrea sticks her tongue out at her. "You can't beat me!"

"That's silly! I'm going to kick your little booty and win this!" Smurfie cackled.

Damn, no wonder her and Gazzy get along so well. If you consider food fights as getting along… I guess in their case, it does.

In the end, Iggy and some random girl won. They waited until everyone crossed the line. Everyone except…

I look across the field and see three figures: two standing and one shaking on the ground. I hope she's not having a seizure.

"Where's Max?" Smurfie asked me. I point my finger toward the three people. I squint my eyes to try to see better, and I think that seizure-like-shaking person is Lollie. Somehow that's not surprising.

I start walking toward them. Smurfie and Astrea follow; to see Max, no doubt.

As I get closer, I see that Lollie actually is crying hysterically, while Nudge and Max look like they want to rip each other out.

"Uh." I said. There's nothing really smart you could say about this situation.

Max looks over. "I'm just living my life. This moment should go in a scrapbook or something."

Leave it to Max to say something smart. Good thing I don't say much to begin with. Makes me seem somewhat smarter. Especially in front of Max.

"So you can show the future how amazing it is to live in our time."

"Exactly! At least someone understands my goals in life." She turned to glare at Nudge. "Unlike some annoying bitches…" Max mumbled. Everyone heard it though, even over Lollie's ugly crying.

Nudge narrowed her eyes. "In your dreams, Max."

"No, more like my nightmares. You're not good enough for my dreams."

Someone behind me said, "Oh snap."

And everyone heard that too. Nudge snapped around to face Smufie and Astrea "Shut it, losers."

Smurfie stepped forward. "You can't make me."

"Wanna bet?" Nudge stepped forward as well. Smurfie lifted her head up, ready to take on Nudge. Beside her, Astrea looks wary.

…I think now would be a good time to drag Max away. "Let's get away from here." I whisper to her. She took one glance at the new scene change, and nodded. "Far, far away."

And we took off.

* * *

**Max**

Nobody noticed. Well, I think maybe Astrea, but that little bum just winked at me. It's as if they planned this.

"Where are we going?" I whisper.

"Far, far away. Remember?" He whispered back.

"Wait, why are we whispering?"

"You started it."

"Since when?!"

"Just now."

"Did not."

"You lie."

"And you don't?"

"Touche."

Oh my god. How do I put up with this guy?

'_Cause you loooooooooooove him! _

I do not!

_You love him thiiiiiiiis much!_

Shut it, brain. Or I'm eating you.

...Hey, it's not like I got much to eat at lunch. Thank you Smurfie and Gazzy for making sure of that.

Without even noticing, I almost run into a tree. I say almost, because Fang pushes me away at the last minute.

So this is why I keep him around. He saves my life. Stupid Batman wannabe…

In case you don't know - which you probably don't – we ran into a little forest thing. No big deal. It's away from Lollie's stupid crying and Nudge's weirdly bitchy attitude.

I stop. So does Fang. "What now?"

Fang doesn't answer. He just walks around in a circle, looking through the trees just our surroundings.

"I said, what-"

He cuts me off. "Just look at these trees for a second."

Um, okay? I turn around on my spot, looking at the trees surrounding us.

"Fang? Why the hell am I-" Wow. He's not even here. So he ditched me? In a forest?

We have such a great friendship going on here. Strand on in a forest, while the other goes ghost. Hope it's a green ghost.

"Hello? Fangles?" I walk around a bit. "Vampire. This isn't funny. Or maybe I should call you Ghosty." A branch cracks. So cliché, but I curse. I don't get scared, but I'm not really in the mood to be snuck up on. Paranoia is not welcome at the moment.

"Jeez Fang, where the hell are you?" I've wandered, like, how far now? I don't know. I have no freaking idea where I'm going. Stupid forest… Guess it's not as small as I thought.

Fang. That idiot is going to die.

I walk around some more. Not like I have anything better to do. In this forest. With trees that look all the same.

Ooh, I'm leaving footprints! …My poodle sticks, I need to get out of here. So, I do whatever anyone like me would do: follow the footprints.

Damn. I got far. But I managed to get back to my spot.

And oh my poodle poop.

It's Fang.

"Hey." He said, way too casually.

I blink.

So he _did_ go ghost on me.

"You a mean ghosty vampire…"

"What?"

"You die."

"What?"

Oh poor Fangles. He seems to have lost his brain. I wonder where it went.

* * *

_**so, i feel like **_**_this chappie sucked. especially after so long... lol and guys, if u have ANY ideas at all, no matter how small, just throw it at me (virtually). ive been like brain-dead lately. the creative-ness will start to flow..eventually..but for now, if u have any ideas, itll deff help! the updates will most likely be coming faster.. ;))_**

**_ahhhh so hows everybody been? wat i blab about last time... princesses? halloween? i dont even remember.. and im not gonna bother check. lol omg does anyone know how to/ have tried playing field hocker? i went to one tryout. i died. im still aching. _**

**_..yeah im not sporty. i can like go out for a run, but thanks to summer, ive been kinda out of shape._**

_**anyway haha so i was chatting w one of my guy buddies, and randomly (cuz yeah im random) i said he reminds me of a giraffe. (or gorilla, but he picked giraffe). ironic, cuz **_**_he's short. XD lol so u know wat he called me? his squid. aw isnt that so nice. every girl wants to be called a squid. haha.. yeah i was thinking of my friends, who remind me of random animals.. one of my buds legit remind me of a bunny. and another.. a cross between a leopard and an elephant. and those two of my buddies called ME and elephant._**

**_so im a cross between an elephant and a squid. ...thats an awkward hybrid._**

**_oh and that last little scene in this chappie, the forest thing w Max and Fang? lol based on true story. i was at home depot w my dad. he told me to 'just look at some door knobs' (no joke.) and then he disappeared. after staring at door knobs, i walked around all over the store, but still no daddy. i go back to the door knob aisle, and guess what! my darling daddy's looking at door knobs. MAN, it was weird. _**

**_so yeah. my life the past week or so. _**

**_until my next update, which i will tryyy to post soon! and u amazing people are VERY welcome to filling me w ideas. so REVIEW!_**

**_-zammielicious98_**


	16. Chapter 16

**_what was it, a week ago since my last update? not bad... _  
**

**_lol hi!_**

**_oh and SpEcIaL tHaNkS to: _Demonic Angel 7_ for actually giving me some ideas. (which i havent used in this chapter, but will deff use in the next. i should probs have just said this thing in the next chapter then, but ill either forget, or, well, i just feel like putting it here. lol) _****_so thank you!_**

**_everyone else, thank you too for the reviews! it makes me smile. since whenever i check my emails, Facebook ends up spamming them. same goes for Bath&BodyWorks (whose emails i find very annoying since they have sales like every freakin day), Forever21 (_****_don't care about the emails..), Hot Topic (which i dont mind sometimes), and other random annoying things. oh and Youtube. jeez, who the hell invented the whole 'contacts' thing? i get random videos sent to me ALL THE TIME. so annoying... -.-_**

**_anyway, on with the chapter! (i feel like a muskateer when i say/type that. i dont know why...)_**

**_disclaimer: this is a disclaimer. it disclaims things. _**

* * *

Previously…

_Damn. I got far. But I managed to get back to my spot._

_And oh my poodle poop._

_It's Fang._

_"Hey." He said, way too casually._

_I blink._

_So he did go ghost on me._

_"You a mean ghosty vampire…"_

_"What?"_

_"You die."_

_"What?"_

_Oh poor Fangles. He seems to have lost his brain. I wonder where it went._

* * *

**Max **

"Huh. You're weird." I said to Fang, pondering.

You see, Fang seemed as if he disappeared (or went all ghosty). I wandered around, la-di-da, and found him exactly where I left him.

It's sad. I really thought he turned into a ghost. How pathetic am I?

But really, he climbed a tree. And because I'm _so_ smart, I didn't bother look up.

Wait... "Why didn't you answer me?"

Fang shrugs. "I didn't know you were serious."

Facepalm. Oh Fangles. You amaze me.

"...So you're _not_ a ghost, right?"

Fang sighed. "No."

"But you're still a vampire."

"Sure."

"A sparkly one, right?"

"...?"

"Edward's sparkly."

He just shot me weird look as if I've gone crazy. I think I have.

"I," I frown. "I need to lie down for a second..."

Poof.

* * *

**Fang**

"Max?" I shake her shoulders. "Max? You okay?" I shake her harder. " Damn it, Max, this isn't funny."

Max blinked awake.

Well that was quick. She only passed out for what, five seconds?

"Wha-? Fang? Where are we?" Max slowly got into a sitting position and looked around. Then she stared at me blankly. "Oh yeah." And she plopped back down on the ground, eyes closed.

"So. What-" She cut me off.

"My eyelids look pretty. So I stared at them for five seconds." Max sighed, opening her eyes. "Today's been crazy."

"Tell me about it..."

Max grinned. "Gladly."

She explained the whole 'angry tomato-head teachers, bitchy drama queens, bipolar camp leaders, and everyone just being damn crazy' thing.

And I'm kind of lost.

"You and your nut-sized guy brain." Max sighed.

I shrug. "Can't help it. Besides, you said too much."

"And you never say enough." She retorted.

"I'm talking to you now." I countered.

"Not the point, smartass."

We stayed silent for a while. For some reason, I decide to lie down beside her.

More silence. We stare at each other. And it's not awkward. This is going to take some of my manly points, but I feel like I'm in a dream. It feels like bliss. I can see deep into Max.

I wonder if I have any manliness left at all. But it doesn't matter. Max is just so MAX.

Now we're getting closer. I must really be dreaming. Max would never like me the way I like her. This is crazy. She- Her lips look so soft and I just want to kiss her and-

...And my wish comes true.

* * *

**Max**

Bliss. Pure, pure, bliss.

This must be what heaven feels like.

Man, I've wanted to do this for _so_ long. It feels even more amazing than I've ever dreamed of (not that I have...).

Fang, Fang, Fang. His name rings in my head. My hands run through his soft, dark hair. I squeeze my eyes and let myself smile a little.

Bliss. Ignorance is bliss. It sure as hell is. The world is gone, and it's just me and him. Him and me. Both of us together here and-

_SNAP!_

We pull apart. I whip my head around, looking to see where the sound came from. Fang did the same.

Just as I feel like my nerves are about to snap - like the sound I heard - I see a mere little squirrel.

Damn it squirrel. You ruined my moment with...

Holy crap.

I stare at Fang; he stares at me. But this time it's not the 'deep soul-mate' look. It's the 'WTF JUST HAPPENED?!' look.

...Well this is awkward.

TIME SKIP

"NOBODY is to come outside or even open these doors until somebody opens them for you in the morning! Not even for bathroom breaks! AM I MAKING MYSELF CLEAR?"

Daaaayumm, Ms. Seree is _pissed_. It's not _my_ fault that Lolly started bawling her eyes out... Now, we're about to be under cabin-arrest. We didn't even get dinner.

This sucks.

"Some food will be brought around to each cabin. There will be no other food options than what is brought to you."

Okay, it's not so bad anymore. I just have to make sure I don't need to take a piss (or a dump, for that matter) and everything will be peachy.

As we get into our obese cabins, we hear the sound of someone ripping tape, and a tap on the door. Then a voice: "Just to make sure, we put a tape on your doors so we'll know if you open the doors at all."

We're prisoners. What kind of school trip is this?

I'm about to say something to Smurfie, but she's not beside me...?

"I want it!"

"Hey, I got it first!

"So? I called the drumstick!"

"No! It's mine!"

"But I shawty-ed it!"

"Lies! I did!"

What… the freaking hell…is going on?

Smurfie and some girl (Lucy? Lacey? Tracy?), are fighting over a drumstick. The last one. Of course.

I walk over. "Hey Smurfie?"

Smurfie looks at me, still holding onto the drumstick. "Hey Max! Did you see me call this first? It was me, right? I called the-"

Snatch. Bite. "Yum. That's a good drumstick."

"MAX!" Smurfie jumped at me. "That was _my_ drumstick! How dare you bite my poor drumstick?"

"Excuse me?" The other girl said. (Is it Gracie? …I suck at names.) "That was_ mine_."

Smurfie let go of me and faced the other girl. "Then why does it have my name on it?"

"Since when!"

"Since now!"

"What? That doesn't even-"

I smack both their heads. "You idiots! It's mine. Okay? I ate it. It's gone. See?" I show them the once-a-drumstick-now-a-bone to them.

"MAX!" Both of them screamed.

I shrug. "Grab something else."

"But then Smurfie's gonna take my food again!"

"Me? Jacy,"- so _that's _her name! –"You're gonna take _my_ food!" Smurfie pouted.

Ohmaigawd. Are these two for real?

I shake my head. "Do I care? Not really. Now go love each other or die." I push them toward the food; the two glare at each other.

Jeez. Give me a break. And some food.

* * *

**Fang**

Man. It couldn't have been a dream, right? It felt too real. Besides, Max doesn't like me like that.

"Dude, want some?"

I shake the thoughts of Max out of my head. I sit up and look down below me. Dylan's arm is stretched out toward me, with a drumstick in hand.

"Sure." I take the drumstick and lean back down.

It sure was a crazy day. And the crazy is still going strong. We're stuck in our cabins. But we have food, so I'm not really complaining.

All I need is Max and-

Bz. WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO?

Oh shit. _Ella._

Bz. FANG? YOU'RE THERE, RIGHT?

...Nope.

I chuck my phone across the cabin. I can't deal with Ella right now.

Ah. No Ella. I'm at peace. Back to my drumstick then. And Max...

"Yo Fang. You got a couple texts." Somebody chucks my phone at me.

Bz. FANG! I NEED TO TALK TO YOU.

Bz. ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE!

Bz. GODDAMNIT FANG! IM GONNA MURDER YOU!

Great. Ella's pissed. At me.

And you know what? I'm going to regret this later, but...

..._Crash! _

"You're phone's a goner, man."

Take that, Ella.

* * *

_**yeah its pretty short. but i just felt the need to end it here. just cuz it feels more dramatic this way. **_

**_lol random fact: writing (well, typing) comes to me more easily when im driving (riding.. not old enuff yet to drive! -.-) in a car. even though i get headaches whenever i ride in a car (or any other vehicle...eg. buses, trains, airplanes, etc). but somehow my thoughts flow better. guess its cuz i got nuthing to do but stare out the window and think. _**

**_plus, i normally write the chapters on the Notes thing on my iPhone. yes, i have an iPhone. no, its not the 4s. i got my iPhone 4 like two days before the 4s came out. stupid, ik. xD_**

**_kay so since i blabbed up at the top, before the chapter, im keeping this blab down here short. _**

**_so yeahhhhh (damn i need to stop saying that. i say that too much, dont i?)..._**

**_toodles~! (MickeyMouse Clubhouse, anyone? lol)_**

**_-zammielicious98_**


	17. Chapter 17

**_ITS BEEN SO LONG! IM NOT GONNA BOTHER DOING THE MATH BUT ITS BEEN LOOOONG!_**

**_sooooo sorry guys! life has just been... life. so i didnt fins the time to finish it. last week i was gonna finish this chappie (which i started the week before that...) but i somehow didnt fint the time.. and i was then gonna finish it on this past Friday... but watever im posting it now!_****_btw, i dont know where in the world everyone lives, but for me im on my Thanksgiving long weekend, and so i dont have school today (Monday) so thats why i have the time to finish writing (typing?) and uploading. oh and if this is your Thanksgiving also, then HAPPY THANKSGIVING to u! if not, well whenever your thanksgiving was, HAPPY TURKEY DAY! ;))_**

**_anywhooooo hope u enjoy this long awaited chapter_**

**_disclainer: really, its kinda sorta REALLY obvious i dont own anything. _**

* * *

**Max**

"We may have been a bit harsh yesterday. Although, your behaviours were unacceptable. Today, however, we have a treat for you!" Ms. Seree clasped her hands together, smiling like the idiot teacher she is. Come on, is she bipolar of something? How can she be pissed beyond imaginable one day, and suddenly be all 'I'm sorry, here's some cookies for you!'. No wonder she's not married.

I hear snickering and a few giggles and chuckles of people around me. And a death stare from Ms. Seree.

Oops. Guess I said that out loud. Eh, what's she gonna do about it? Give me detention? It's getting pretty old, the whole 'you bad-detention!' thing.

"As I was saying," Ms. Seree shot me a quick glare. Someone's being immature... "Today, will be..." she paused to make this dramatic, which it didn't. "An all-day beach day!"

Another pause. Then cheering and chattering and whistling and screams and OW my ears hurt.

"Astrea, you have an Advil by any chance?" I look over to my right and see that Astrea and Smurfie are jumping up and down.

Well, looks like I'm alone on the whole silent-

Fang. He smirks. At me. Stupid vampire.

A _really_ loud whistle blows. Everyone shuts up (thank god) and turns to Ms. Seree. She smiles at our excitement. "I see you are all very excited! I will now dismiss you all to your cabins. You have half and hour to get changed and ready for our little beach!"

And we're off!

* * *

**Fang**

Beach day? This will be interesting.

"Man, do you know what this means?" Iggy grinned.

"That we're going to the beach?" I know what he means, that douchbag.

Iggy chuckles. "Girls! In bikinis! It doesn't get better than this, Fang."

Yeah, it does. But I'm not telling him.

I shrug. "I guess."

"Oh Fangles," Iggy shakes his head. He pats me on the back and dashes for our cabin.

This beach day thing really will be interesting. Though now that Iggy brought up the whole topic...

Ca-dunk. "Dammit." I look behind me and... I should run.

Ella's staring me down. I keep up my straight face. I'm a pro at this.

"Why, the hell, did you not answer you damn phone?" She said calmly.

Crap. This is the last thing a guy could ask for. "My phone broke." Not a lie. And she doesn't need to know why it's broken.

She quirked an eyebrow. It looks different on Ella. On Max, it looks- FOCUS Fang. "Oh really?" Ella cocked her hip.

"Yep."

"Huh." She keeps staring, trying to break my shell.

Moment of silence. With more staring. This is getting slightly uncomfortable.

"Well, see you at the beach." I turn around and start walking. Luckily, my cabin is right next to me.

Damn, she's gonna kill me.

* * *

**Max**

"NO!" I run for the door.

Do I make it? Of course not. It would be too easy if I did. The world hates me.

"I said no! So let me go!" Wow, I rhymed. See how skilled I am?

But these people don't appreciate my skills. Instead, they hold on to me and shove a disgraceful piece of 'clothing'.

"Now Maxie dear," Astrea grinned at my glare. "You have to put something on."

"I have my own stuff, you know."

"But this will look so much better on you!"

"I'd rather be dead than be caught wearing that... _thing_." I wrinkle my nose at the bikini.

"Then say your last words, 'cause you're gonna wear this."

They all start heading toward the doors, with me still as their captive. Oh, now we're outside, heading somewhere I don't know because they're dragging me backwards.

And next thing I know, I'm being shoved into a shower stall. These little devils... they dragged me all the way to the bathroom. They're even guarding the door-the only way out.

Annoying brats. Why can't a girl wear whatever she wants? And bikinis of all things! Who invented these horrid pieces of clothing? What happened to wearing one-piece swimsuits? They're very hip, you know. Or board shorts? Girls can wear them too, not just guys.

Yeah yeah, my ranting's not gonna do anything. But man, this bikini feels weird. So airy. Too revealing. And-

Holy monkey poop. Of all the times this month, it just HAD to be now.

Didn't catch my drift? Let's just say it's the worst time of the month for a girl.

"Uh, Astrea?" I call out the door.

"Yes, Maxie?"

"Don't call me that." A giggle. "Come in for a sec? And bring me my board shorts."

"What's the magic word?"

Goddammit... "Please?"

Another giggle. "Nope! ...Well, okay. You're still wearing the top though."

"Rawr. Just gimme my shorts."

The door creaked open and Astrea came in. "Gimme gimme never gets, don't you-"

"Yeah I got the point. Now hand it over."

Astrea handed my lifesaving shorts. "You know, you do look really good in that bikini."

"Not another word, Astrea." I walked into a toilet stall. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"Purple hippo. Purple freaking hippopotamus."

"Awe, no! Really?"

"Yes, I know. It's a tragedy." For those who don't know the code, purple hippo is what we say... 'in this situation'... to make shit less awkward around people.

I hear some shuffling around on the other side of the stall. "Crap, I don't have any with me."

Sigh. "It's fine. I'll improvise." A minute later, I walk out of the stall. "Just make sure I stay away from water."

"Affirmative."

Grinning, I grab her arm and we head out.

Despite the stupid purple hippo, I'm feeling pretty good. I smile at Astrea and Smurfie, who came to stand on my other side. "Who's ready for the beach?"

Arms linked together, we all skip our way toward our cabin, singing:

"Ohhhh, the wonderful wizard of Oz!"

* * *

**Fang**

Everyone stood just on the edge of the beach, on the border between the grass and the sand. Ms. Seree said some words of safety or something, then shouted, "Have fun!", and everyone ran into the water.

"Haha!" Iggy laughed. "Fangles, my man! Isn't this just jolly?"

"..."

He thumped my back. "Get out there! Enjoy yourself like a man should! Keep your mind off your emo-ness for just a bit!"

Iggy. Always a laugh.

I roll my eyes, but let myself smile a bit. "Whatever, Igs." I head toward the water.

"Yes! Let's get wet!" Iggy jumped. Some girls looking our way, laughed.

He really needs to learn to shut up.

"Wait for me!" I glance behind me and a blob of green sped toward us.

I should probably get out of the-

_SPLASH!_

"Whoo hoo! That was SO EPIC!" The green blob turns out to be Gazzy, who decided to jump us all into the water. Painfully. But I won't admit that.

Iggy cackled along with his twin. "Again!"

These Idiots...

In my attempt to find something else to do, my eyes wander to a certain non-male person who seems to be looking shockingly not herself but still very good looking...

She saw me. Oh and now she's blushing. Man, that's cute.

Being a guy stuck between a girl who's your best friend and a girl who you seem to be falling for (who don't like each other) is not fun.

At all.

* * *

**Max**

This day is turning out okay. Pretty fun, actually. I'm finally having my big break.

That's what I said five minutes ago. Apparently it only takes five freaking minutes for everything to screw up. For me, at least.

So I was la-la-la lounging around near the water, when I see Astrea sun-tanning her pale skin. Tsk tsk.

"Yo Astrea! You do realize that a billion bottles of sunscreen is gonna do zip for you." I called to her.

Smurfie, who's actually in the water, laughed. "You gon' burn, girl!"

Sticking her tongue out, Astrea lay down and soaked up some sun. Not even ten seconds later, she got up and walked toward us.

"You're right." She looked down at herself. Her skin has already turned somewhat pink-ish.

We then splashed around (not straying too deep) in the water like the idiots we are, then went back onto the sand, where we buried Smurfie's body...

"Max, you don't even know how weird this feels."

"'Kay great."

"Hehe."

"..."

"Mmmmphhhhh..hehe..mmmhmm.."

"..."

"HAHAHA!"

"Stop laughing!"

"I c-can't! It's not m-my faul-lt that my feeeeet are tiiickliiiish!"

...When along came the wicked witch, who decided to be a bitch, and slapped us silly with her ridiculous...(insert whatever rhymes with 'silly')

Or nevermind. They actually walked right by us.

But then Sam,-that party guy I told you about a million years ago?-came toward us with his groupie; Ella and co. stood back and grinned.

Not good, right? Correct.

"Hey Max."

"Bye Sam."

He didn't stop. 'Course not. "So we we're wondering if you wanted to play a game."

"Bye Sam."

"Come on, Max."

Smurfie cut in. "She said 'Bye Sam' which means you should take your big but and L-E-A-V-E."

Such a sweetheart, that Smurfie. But it's kind of hard to take someone with only a head seriously.

And the guys thought so too. They tried (and failed) to hide their laughs.

Jerkheads.

"Max? You sure you don't want to play?"

"Never been more sure in my life."

"Well okay..."

He started to turn around so I started to continue burying Smurfie. BIG MISTAKE.

Next thing you know:

"SAM! Get me down!"

He chuckled. "Not a chance, Max!"

"NOW!" I yelled, spazzing in the guys' arms. His little groupie held on tight to me.

And this is where I am now. Back to the present, folks. Not looking so good.

Hey, nobody noticed us. Ha! As if. We we're making a HUGE scene. I can't believe the teachers haven't noticed yet. They will soon, I'm sure, 'cause I know we-

No. Oh no. Oh _hell_ no. Oh no no no no NO!

They're gonna throw me in the water. And in my situation? It's _really_ not welcome.

I glance back at Astrea, who's trying to attack the guys, but what can she do against a bunch of big guys? She's not strong. Can't deny that.

But she's still trying. How much loyal can this little soldier get?

Oh crap muffins. We're getting closer to the water. (Thank god we were far from the water. Takes the guys longer to get there.)

Gulp. We're still getting closer.

And closer, and closer, and closer, and- FANG! He saw me. Now he's running. And running, and running, and running, and-

Shut up, brain. I'm about to face my doom. I'd like it in silence.

If only I can just-

"Stop!" That voice. It's heaven to my ears.

Ahem, what?

"Fang, man. We're just playing a little game with Max." Some game, _Sam_. That little booger. When I get my hands on you-

"Doesn't look much fun." Go Fangles! Show them your inner vampire! Scare them away from me!

Give them a piece of hell!

"Whatever. I didn't ask if you wanted to play."

I glared at Sam; Fang did the same.

"Sam, you are going to die." I sneered.

He just laughed. That little-

_SPLASH!_

Water ran up my nose, causing me to cough up my guts, which really doesn't work out well when you're _underwater_.

Thanks to the coughing,-well, my attempt to,-I can't seem to stand up straight.

AIR. I NEED AIR!

Arms. Nice, homey feeling arms circled around me, bringing me above surface.

I sucked in a huge breath of air, then I started spluttering and hacking out water.

A soft, husky voice spoke in my ear. "Come on, Max. Let's get out of the water."

Rubbing my eyes, I look up to see Fang. Woah. He _went after me_? Jeez, I'm starting to like this guy more.

One problem, at the moment: I feel something weird 'down there'. Damnit, I'm still on my purple hippo.

With eyes wide as elephants, I look around frantically for Astrea and Smurfie.

And there they are, running toward me. Ha, Smurfie has a new 'sandy' outfit.

I turn to face Fang. I need to thank him. But no words are coming out. Our eyes, however, are staring into each other deeply. Like it did in the forest.

Without a word, he nodded. He heard my unspoken 'thank you'.

I really don't wanna run. Not after what he just did for me. Stupid life-ruining hippo. I have to ditch him now.

"Max! Come on!" Astrea.

Splash. "Oooogle!" And Smurfie.

Crap. SCREW THE WORLD.

"Sorry Fang. I really have to go..." His eyes. Now I REALLY don't wanna go, but I REALLY have to, even though I REALLY wish I-

"Thanks for saving Max! Later!" In unison, Smurfie and Astrea waved to Fang, leaving my vampire hero to his lonely fate.

I'm gonna have to have a loooooong talk with mother nature and her really annoying, 'I wanna explode your brains' worthy, purple hippopotamus.

* * *

**_nothing too exciting, but im gonna get there. _**

**_ahhhhhhhhhhh it feels nice to upload again._**

**_and OMG. 200 reviews? y'all are just too amazing. hehe... i said 'y'all' xD_**

**_its another reason why i chose to update asap today! cuz i realized that this story hit 200 reviews and i was just so happy! especially since my life has been so complicated lately, this managed to put a smile on my face :) aha, also cuz the last person to review asked when i was gonna update. soooooo i went ahead and voila! this is posted! :D_**

**_brrrrrrrrrr its soooo cold! im gonna find something fuzzy and warm to wear.. its October (fall! i LOVE fall!) and its suddenly sooooo cold and in less than an hour, im off to my friends house w my fam to eat turkey and be all thankful together! _**

**_ah. the joys of thanksgiving._**

**_i am thankful for all the lovely amazing super fantabulawesomely epic readers i have. and my super fuzzy purple slipper boots. it has a hole in it... oh well. ._**

**_toodle lou~! 'til my next update (which hopefully i can get to everyone soon!)_**

**_-zammielicious98_**


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